temeraire would be gone for hours , but the house being small and the chambers separated mainly by screens of rice paper , hammond 's angry presence was nearly palpable inside , so laurence stayed in the pavilion after he had gone , attending to his correspondence : unnecessarily , as it was now five months since he had received any letters , and little of any interest had occurred since the welcoming dinner party , now two weeks old ; he was not disposed to write of the quarrel with hammond .