one o’clock
Under pretext of aiding others , independently of minding her own business , which , for worlds , she would never have spared herself , she had put her fingers and eyes into so many things that they ended by overwhelming her . However , she ascribed the delay in which she was almost caught to the hairdresser , whom she had sent for to make , on this extraordinary occasion , what she called her `` part . '' That artist having , unadvisedly , dressed her hair in the fashion , he was compelled , after she had looked at herself in the glass , to do his work over again , and conform to the usual style of his client , which consisted chiefly in never being `` done '' at all , a method that gave her head a general air of what is vulgarly called `` a cross cat . '' About half-past one o'clock la Peyrade , Thuillier , Colleville , Madame Thuillier , and Celeste were assembled in the salon . Flavie joined them soon after , fastening her bracelets as she came along to avoid a rebuff , and having the satisfaction of knowing that she was ready before Brigitte . As for the latter , already furious at finding herself late , she had another cause for exasperation . The event of the day seemed to require a corset , a refinement which she usually discarded .