ten o'clock
`` Shall I go and write the letter at once , father ? '' `` There is no hurry , Albert . The messenger must have ridden from town to-day , and as he went first to Master Ormskirk 's , that would lengthen his journey by three or four miles , therefore man and horse need rest , and it were best , I should think , that he sleep here to-night , and be off betimes in the morning . It would be dark before he reached the city , and the roads are not safe riding after nightfall ; besides , it can make no difference to Van Voorden whether he gets the answer to-night or by ten o'clock to-morrow morning . '' Dame Agatha did not , as Aline had somewhat hoped , say a word to persuade Sir Ralph to keep Albert longer at home . She looked wistfully at the lad as the knight told her of the invitation that had come , and at his hearty pleasure thereat , but she only said : `` I am sorely unwilling to part with you , Albert , but I know that it is best for you to be entering the world , and that I could not expect to have you many months longer . Your father and I were agreeing on that yesterday .