one o'clock
Again Humplebee met her eyes . He saw that she would not forsake him . He had to begin life over again -- that was all . It was market day in the little town ; at one o'clock a rustic company besieged the table of the Greyhound , lured by savoury odours and the frothing of amber ale . Apart from three frequenters of the ordinary , in a small room prepared for overflow , sat two persons of a different stamp -- a middle-aged man , bald , meagre , unimpressive , but wholly respectable in bearing and apparel , and a girl , evidently his daughter , who had the look of the latter twenties , her plain dress harmonising with a subdued charm of feature and a timidity of manner not ungraceful . Whilst waiting for their meal they conversed in an undertone ; their brief remarks and ejaculations told of a long morning 's ramble from the seaside resort some miles away ; in their quiet fashion they seemed to have enjoyed themselves , and dinner at an inn evidently struck them as something of an escapade . Rather awkwardly the girl arranged a handful of wild flowers which she had gathered , and put them for refreshment into a tumbler of water ; when a woman entered with viands , silence fell upon the two ; after hesitations and mutual glances , they began to eat with nervous appetite .