about two o'clock
in the morning
Having , however , made up his mind about her , Sydney took little further interest in the matter . One or two complimentary remarks were made in his hearing about Miss Pynsent 's playing ; but he took them to apply to the sandy-haired Miss Pynsent whom he had seen at dinner , and only made a silent cynical note of the difference with which the violinist and the accompanist were treated . He never flew in the face of the world himself , and therefore he did not try to readjust the balance of compliment : he simply acquiesced in the judgment of the critics , and thought of the Donatello . A long conference in the smoking-room on political matters put music and musicians out of his head ; and when he went to sleep , about two o'clock in the morning , it was to dream , if he dreamt at all , of his maiden speech in Parliament , and that elevation to the woolsack which his mother was so fond of prophesying . Sydney was an early riser , and breakfast on Sundays at Culverley was always late . He was tempted by the beauty of the morning to go for a stroll in the gardens ; and thence he wandered into the park , where he breathed the fresh cool air with pleasure , and abandoned himself , as usual , to a contemplation of the future . The park was quickly crossed , for Sydney scarcely knew how to loiter in his walking , more than in any other of his actions ; and he then plunged into a fir plantation which fringed a stretch of meadow-land , now grey and drenched with dew and shining in the morning sun .