noon
On rising the next morning he felt rather blank , though none the less convinced that a matter required investigation . He left Budmouth by a morning train , and about eleven o'clock found himself in Markton . The momentum of a practical inquiry took him through that ancient borough without leaving him much leisure for those reveries which had yesterday lent an unutterable sadness to every object there . It was just before noon that he started for the castle , intending to arrive at a time of the morning when , as he knew from experience , he could speak to Charlotte without difficulty . The rising ground soon revealed the old towers to him , and , jutting out behind them , the scaffoldings for the new wing . While halting here on the knoll in some doubt about his movements he beheld a man coming along the road , and was soon confronted by his former competitor , Havill . The first instinct of each was to pass with a nod , but a second instinct for intercourse was sufficient to bring them to a halt .