midnight
She persuaded Lady Emily to go to bed . But the contagion spread ; and indistinct terrors were no longer confined to the upper portions of the family . The bruit revived , which had broken out a year before -- that the house was haunted . It was whispered that , the very night after these occurrences , the Ghost 's Walk had been in use as the name signified : a figure in death-garments had been seen gliding along the deserted avenue , by one of the maid-servants ; the truth of whose story was corroborated by the fact that , to support it , she did not hesitate to confess that she had escaped from the house , nearly at midnight , to meet one of the grooms in a part of the wood contiguous to the avenue in question . Mr. Arnold instantly dismissed her -- not on the ground of the intrigue , he took care to let her know , although that was bad enough , but because she was a fool , and spread absurd and annoying reports about the house . Mr. Arnold 's usual hatred of what he called superstition , was rendered yet more spiteful by the fact , that the occurrences of the week had had such an effect on his own mind , that he was mortally afraid lest he should himself sink into the same limbo of vanity . The girl , however , was , or pretended to be , quite satisfied with her discharge , protesting she would not have staid for the world ; and as the groom , whose wages happened to have been paid the day before , took himself off the same evening , it may be hoped her satisfaction was not altogether counterfeit .