midnight
`` Mr. Richards . '' She clasped her hands together . Conviction as positive as certainty thrilled along every nerve . Mr. Richards , the recluse , was the midnight walker -- Mr. Richards , who was no invalid at all ; and who , shut up all day , came out in the dead of night , when the household were asleep , to take the air in the grounds . There , in the solemn hush of her room , Rose 's thoughtless words came back to her like a revelation . `` Where there is secrecy there is guilt . '' When the family met at breakfast , Grace looked at Kate with a new interest .