midnight
* Although the reader may regard the foregoing as wild and impossible , I can vouch for the truth of a story identical in many points with that told by Roger Trewinion . The wife of a nobleman of the West of England , whose name is well-known in Cornwall , was supposed to be dead , and was buried in the family vault situated in the old parish church . A valuable ring which was on her finger when she died was allowed to remain , and it was known by the servants and villagers that this ornament was in the tomb with her . The sexton determined to get it , and accordingly at midnight made his way to the church . In seeking to remove the ring he caused the latent life to assert itself , and seeing the lady move he ran out of the church , leaving the lantern behind him . She became conscious , took the sexton 's lantern , and found her way back to the hall . She lived long enough to become the mother of a son , who afterwards became the heir of his father 's estates .