twenty-five minutes past eight
They were allowed a little latitude in the way of embroideries with respect to best frocks , but their everyday , ordinary clothes were required to be of the school pattern , with the addition of sailor hats and knitted coats , for use in running across the quadrangle on wet or cold days . Miss Cavendish considered that this rule encouraged simplicity , and provided against any undue extravagance in the matter of dress . She did not allow rings or bracelets to be worn , and the sole vanity permitted to the girls was in the choice of their hair ribbons . Punctually at twenty-five minutes past eight each morning the bell in the little chapel began to give warning , and by half-past every member of the school was expected to have taken her seat , and to be ready for the short service held there daily by the senior curate of the parish church at Dunscar . In twos and threes and small groups the girls came hurrying in answer to the call of the tinkling bell . Though they laughed and talked as they ran across the quadrangle , they sobered down as they neared the door , and , each taking a Prayer Book from a pile laid ready in the porch , passed silently and reverently into the chapel . Every house had its own special rows of seats , and the sailor hats that mingled like a kaleidoscope in the grounds were here divided into their several sets of colours , though sometimes varied by a gleam of ruby or amber falling from the stained-glass windows above .