nearly eleven o'clock before
One Saturday evening when her sweetheart had come she took him for a ride in the family carriage , and Hugh concealed himself in the hay loft of the barn to wait for their return . Hugh had never seen or heard a man express in any way his affection for a woman . It seemed to him a terrifically heroic thing to do and he hoped by concealing himself in the barn to see it done . It was a bright moonlight night and he waited until nearly eleven o'clock before the lovers returned . In the hayloft there was an opening high up under the roof . Because of his great height he could reach and pull himself up , and when he had done so , found a footing on one of the beams that formed the framework of the barn . The lovers stood unhitching the horse in the barnyard below .