'Privately' in the Bible

King Zedekiah later sent for him and received him, and in his house privately asked him, “Is there a word from the Lord?”“There is,” Jeremiah responded, and he continued, “You will be handed over to the king of Babylon.”

Then Kareah's son Jonathan spoke privately to Gedaliah at Mizpah: "Let me go kill Nethaniah's son Ishmael, and no one will know. Why should he take your life? Otherwise all the Judeans who have gathered around you will be scattered, and the remnant of Judah will perish."