midnight
But Helena did not come . Through her open window Lucy could hear steps along the terrace coming and going -- to and fro . Then they ceased ; all sounds in the house ceased . The church clock in the distance struck midnight , and a little owl close to the house shrieked and wailed like a human thing , to the torment of Lucy 's nerves . A little later she was aware of Buntingford coming upstairs , and going to his room on the further side of the gallery . Then , nothing . Deep silence -- that seemed to flow through the house and all its rooms and passages like a submerging flood .