midnight
The true motto of love and chivalry should be ` Give all -- take nothing ' ! '' Midnight chimed from the courtyard turret . She listened to the mellow clang with a sense of pleased comfort and security . `` Many people would think of ghosts and all sorts of uncanny things in an old , old house like this at midnight ; '' she thought ; `` But somehow I do n't believe there are any ghosts here . At any rate , not unpleasant ones ; -- only dear and loving ` home ' ghosts , who will do me no harm ! '' She soon sank into a restful slumber , and the moonlight poured in through the old latticed windows , forming a delicate tracery of silver across the faded rose silken coverlet of the bed , and showing the fair face , half in light , half in shade , that rested against the pillow , with the unbound hair scattered loosely on either side of it , like a white lily between two leaves of gold . And as the hours wore on , and the silence grew more intense , the slow and somewhat rusty pendulum of the clock in the tower could just be heard faintly ticking its way on towards the figures of the dawn .