midnight
He turned to Louis . `` We will wait , '' said he , `` while you present my compliments to your mother and say that it will give me great satisfaction if she will allow me to entertain an overflow party of her guests . '' Hardly able to believe his ears , Richard stared at his grandfather . What had come over him , who had lived in such seclusion for so many years , that he should be offering hospitality at midnight to total strangers ? He smiled to himself . But the next moment a thought struck him . `` Grandfather , '' he said hurriedly , `` why not specially invite that delightful couple -- the one they call ` Uncle Rufus ' and his wife ? ''