midnight
`` If your intentions are never known beforehand , '' he said , `` still your habit of going forth alone in places to which your steps might easily be dogged , where you might be shot from an ambush or drowned by a sudden attack from a submarine vessel , will soon be pretty generally understood , if , as I fear , a regular watch is set upon your life . At least let me know what your intentions are before starting , and make your absences as irregular and sudden as possible . The less they are known beforehand , even in your own household , the better . '' `` Is it midnight still in the Council Chamber ? '' I asked . `` Very nearly so . She who has told so much can tell us no more .