ten o'clock
` Be still now , brother ; I want to hear what they are saying . ' This may sound somewhat sly , but French children , before Rousseau had made them the fashion , were kept in the background , and were reduced to picking up intelligence as best they could without any sense of its being dishonourable to do so ; and , indeed , it was more neglect than desire of concealment that left their uninformed . This was in 1719 , four years after the accession of Louis XV. , a puny infant , to the French throne , and in the midst of the Regency of the Duke of Orleans . The scene was a broad walk in the Tuileries gardens , beneath a closely-clipped wall of greenery , along which were disposed alternately busts upon pedestals , and stone vases of flowers , while beyond lay formal beds of flowers , the gravel walks between radiating from a fountain , at present quiescent , for it was only ten o'clock in the forenoon , and the gardens were chiefly frequented at that hour by children and their attendants , who , like Estelle and Ulysse de Bourke , were taking an early walk on their way home from mass . They were a miniature lady and gentleman of the period in costume , with the single exception that , in consideration of their being only nine and seven years old , their hair was free from powder . Estelle 's light , almost flaxen locks were brushed back from her forehead , and tied behind with a rose-coloured ribbon , but uncovered , except by a tiny lace cap on the crown of her head ; Ulick 's darker hair was carefully arranged in great curls on his back and shoulders , as like a full-bottomed wig as nature would permit , and over it he wore a little cocked hat edged with gold lace . He had a rich laced cravat , a double-breasted waistcoat of pale blue satin , and breeches to match , a brown velvet coat with blue embroidery on the pockets , collar , and skirts , silk stockings to match , as well as the knot of the tiny scabbard of the semblance of a sword at his side , shoes with silver buckles , and altogether he might have been a full-grown Comte or Vicomte seen through a diminishing glass .