`` You may , I do not forget that I owe my life to you , nor that you are a gentleman . Trust me , I never will betray you . '' `` Thanks , thanks ! there will come a time when I may confess the truth and be myself , but not yet , '' and his regretful tone was emphasized by an impatient gesture , as if concealment was irksome . `` Nell , come down to lunch ; uncle is signalling as if he 'd gone mad . No , monsieur , it is quite impossible ; you can not reach the harebells without risking too much ; come away and forget that I wanted them . '' Amy led the way , and all went down more quietly than they came up , especially Helen and Hoffman . An excellent lunch waited on one of the tables in front of the old gateway , and having done justice to it , the major made himself comfortable with a cigar , bidding the girls keep near , for they must be off in half an hour . Hoffman went to see to the horses , Casimer strolled away with him , and the young ladies went to gather wild flowers at the foot of the tower . `` Not a harebell here ; is n't it provoking , when they grow in tufts up there , where one ca n't reach them . Mercy , what 's that ? Run , Nell , the old wall is coming down ! '' Both had been grubbing in a damp nook , where ferns and mosses grew luxuriantly ; the fall of a bit of stone and a rending sound above made them fly back to the path and look up . Amy covered her eyes , and Helen grew pale , for part way down the crumbling tower , clinging like a bird to the thick ivy stems , hung Casimer , coolly gathering harebells from the clefts of the wall . `` Hush ; do n't cry out or speak ; it may startle him . Crazy boy ! Let us see what he will do , '' whispered Helen . `` He ca n't go back , the vines are so torn and weak ; and how will he get down the lower wall ? for you see the ivy grows up from that ledge , and there is nothing below . How could he do it ?
I was only joking when I lamented that there were no knights now , ready to leap into a lion 's den for a lady 's glove , '' returned XXXXX , half angry .
Amy Casimer Hoffman Nell harebell harebells hour mosses nook signalling