twelve o'clock
She did not wish further to incense her son against the squire , yet in her heart she could not help agreeing with him . The next day Herbert did not go to work as usual . He did not feel like it , while matters were in such uncertainty . He knew the squire would be at the cottage a little before twelve o'clock , and he wanted to be with his mother at that time , for he felt that , if the place must be sold , he would be more likely to get good terms for it than his mother , who was of an easy and yielding disposition . He took a little walk in the course of the forenoon , not with any particular object in view , but in order to pass the time . As he was passing the hotel -- for there was a small hotel in the village -- he heard his name called . Turning round , he found that it was the landlord who had called him .