midnight
`` Still I fear not , '' said Julian , counterfeiting more confidence than he really possessed ; `` my father 's cause will be pleaded before twelve Englishmen . '' `` Better before twelve wild beasts , '' answered the Invisible , `` than before Englishmen , influenced with party prejudice , passion , and epidemic terror of an imaginary danger . They are bold in guilt in proportion to the number amongst whom the crime is divided . '' `` Ill-omened speaker , '' said Julian , `` thine is indeed a voice fitted only to sound with the midnight bell , and the screeching owl . Yet speak again . Tell me , if thou canst '' -- -LRB- He would have said of Alice Bridgenorth , but the word would not leave his tongue -RRB- -- `` Tell me , '' he said , `` if the noble house of Derby -- '' `` Let them keep their rock like the sea-fowl in the tempest ; and it may so fall out , '' answered the voice , `` that their rock may be a safe refuge . But there is blood on their ermine ; and revenge has dogged them for many a year , like a bloodhound that hath been distanced in the morning chase , but may yet grapple the quarry ere the sun shall set .