three o'clock
I come now to the memorable night of June 15th , concerning which and the end it brought upon the festivities of Brussels so much has been written . All the world has heard of the Duchess of Richmond 's ball , and seems to conspire in decking it out with pretty romantic fables . To contradict the most of these were waste of time ; but I may point out -LRB- 1 -RRB- that the ball was over and , I believe , all the company dispersed , before the actual alarm awoke the capital ; and -LRB- 2 -RRB- that all responsible officers gathered there shared the knowledge that such an alarm was impending , might arrive at any moment , and would almost certainly arrive within a few hours . News of the French advance across the frontier and attack on General Zieten 's outposts had reached Wellington at three o'clock that afternoon . It should have been brought five hours earlier ; but he gave his orders at once , and quietly , and already our troops were massing for defence upon Nivelles . We of the Reserve had secret orders to hold ourselves prepared . Obedient to a hint from their Commander-in-chief , the generals of division and brigade who attended the Duchess ' ball withdrew themselves early on various pleas .