two a.m.
But by the time that he was thoroughly wet through , well splashed with mud , and considerably fatigued by his first five or six miles ' walk , he began to reflect that life was not over with him , and that he must think of future things as well as those that were past . He got home about two o'clock , and having knocked up his landlady , Mrs. Richards , betook himself to bed . Alaric had been in his room for the last two hours , but of Charley and his latch-key Mrs. Richards knew nothing . She stated her belief , however , that two a.m. seldom saw that erratic gentleman in his bed . On the following morning , Alaric , when he got his hot water , heard that Norman returned during the night from Hampton , and he immediately guessed what had brought him back . He knew that nothing short of some great trouble would have induced Harry to leave the Cottage so abruptly , and that that trouble must have been of such a nature as to make his remaining with the Woodwards an aggravation of it . No such trouble could have come on him but the one .