nine o'clock in the morning
As Vera approached these two persons sprang apart with a guilty suddenness , and revealed to her astonished eyes -- Beatrice Miller and Mr. Herbert Pryme . Heaven first taught letters for some wretch 's aid , Some banished lover , or some captive maid . Pope , `` Eloisa and Abelard . '' To ascertain rightly how Mr. Pryme and Miss Miller came to be found in the parish of Tripton at nine o'clock in the morning , standing together under a wet hedge-row , it will be necessary to take a slight retrospect of what had taken place in the history of these two people since the time when the young barrister had spent that memorable week at Shadonake . The visit had come to an end uneventfully for either of them ; but two days after his departure from the house Mr. Pryme had been guilty of a gross piece of indiscretion . He had forgotten to observe a golden rule which should be strongly impressed upon every man and woman . The maxim should be inculcated upon the young with at least as much earnestness as the Catechism or the Ten Commandments .