about twelve o'clock
I attended the afternoon service in a more reckless mood than ever ; and that day at dinner , and during all the evening , was more feverishly gay , more wildly excited than usual ; and Henry Lovell , who seemed struck with the strangeness of my manner , for the first time made love to me without reserve . The language of passion was new to my ears ; his words made my heart throb and my cheeks bum ; but even while he spoke , and while under the influence of a bewildering excitement , which made me feel , for the time , as if I shared his sentiments , I once thought of the crusader . I saw a pale , calm face , with its well known features , under the warrior 's helmet ; and I felt that to lie down and die by his side would be happiness compared to such a life as mine . A few days after this , we were all sitting in the drawing-room at about twelve o'clock ; the day was not tempting , and instead of going out , we had settled to work , while Sir Edmund and Henry alternately read out loud to us ; but Rosa Moore , when she heard the plan proposed , screwed up her lips into a decided expression of disapprobation , and slipt out of the room with the look of a child who has escaped its lesson . Two hours after she came in again , and sat down quietly in a chair opposite me ; she looked red and out of breath , but a look of mischief and amusement was sparkling in her eyes . She listened patiently to the conclusion of the tragedy , which Sir Edmund was reading well , though rather too theatrically for the occasion ; and when the different remarks upon it had subsided , she turned to Henry , and with perfect gravity , but a most mischievous look in her eyes , said to him , `` Mr. Lovell , I am sorry to have to break it to you , but , upon pain of death , we must marry immediately . '' `` I never dreamt of such an honour , '' said Henry , laughing ; `` but if there is no other alternative , I can resign myself .