nearly noon
That poor lady had locked herself in with her headache , and she was a Protestant besides , so that room had to go unblessed the whole year through . When Padre Ugo had gone , Teresina was obliged to give her whole attention to the baby , and it was not until she and the Twins were ready for the street that at last she said stiffly to Beppo , `` To-morrow morning , Don Beppo , you will find that the hares have left no Easter eggs in the garden for such a naughty boy as you . '' The clock in the reception hall had already struck eleven , when the two children , dressed in their best , followed by Teresina , passed out beneath the carved stone arch of the palace door into the streets of Florence . Their way lay through the edge of the beautiful Boboli Gardens , where lilacs bloomed , and birds were singing as they built their nests , past churches and palaces , across the Ponte Vecchio , one of the oldest of all the old bridges across the Arno , and then on through narrow streets on the other side of the river , and it was nearly noon when at last they reached the Piazza del Duomo . The square was a wonderful sight on that beautiful spring morning . There in front of them rose the great Cathedral , with its mighty dome , and beside it stood the bell-tower , which Beppina had watched from her window in the dawn . Here also in the square was the old Baptistery , _ il bel San Giovanni _ , where Beppo and Beppina , and all the other children in Florence had been baptised when they were babies .