The Master of Greylands A Novel Author:Mrs. Henry Wood General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1873 Original Publisher: R. Bentley Subjects: Fiction / General Fiction / Classics Fiction / Historical Fiction / Literary Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustra... more »tions and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER VI. ANTHONY CASTLEMAINE ON HIS SEARCH. HE hour of dinner with all business men in Stilborough was half-past one o'clock in the day. Perhaps Mr. Peter Castlemaine was the only man who did not really dine then; but he took his luncheon ; which came to the same thing. It was the recognised daily interregnum in the public doings of the town -- this half hour between half-past one and two : consequently shops, banks, offices, all were virtually though not actually closed. The bank of Mr. Peter Castlemaine made no exception. On all days, except Thursday, market day, the bank was left to the care of one clerk during this half hour : the rest of the clerks and Mr. Hill would be out at theirdinner. As a rule, not a single customer came in until two o'clock had struck. It was the day after the ball. The bank had been busy all the morning, and Mr. Peter Castlemaine had been away the best part of it. He came back at half-past one, just as the clerks were filing out. " Do you want me, sir ?" asked Thomas Hill, standing back with his hat in his hand ; and it was the dreadfully worn, perplexed look on his master's face that induced him to ask the question. " Just for a few minutes," was the reply. " Come into my room." Once there, the door was closed upon them, and they sat in grievous tribulation. There was no dinner for poor Thomas Hill that day ; there was no lunch for his master : the hour's perplexities were all in ...« less