four o'clock
Bedroom tea-parties were indulgences only given to winners of three weeks ' dormitory records , so the less fortunate occupants of the Brown and Rose rooms were really profiting by the tidiness of their hostesses . The Blue Grotto was placed in apple-pie order on the afternoon of the fourteenth of February . A white hemstitched cloth and a bowl of snowdrops adorned the center table , and the cakes were set out on paper doilies . Both hostesses and guests were in the dining-hall by four o'clock , awaiting the appearance of the urns , and each bore her cup of tea and a portion of bread and butter and scones upstairs with her . It was a jolly party round the square table , and if the cakes were not too plentiful , they were at least voted delicious . The girls carried down the cups when they had finished , shook the table-cloth out of the window , carefully collected crumbs from the floor , so as to preserve their record for neatness , then gathered round the table again for an hour 's fun before the bell should ring for prep . `` It 's a Valentine party , and I 've got a ripping idea , '' said Gowan .