About nine o'clock
A.M.
The sun rose hot and unclouded , and hot and unclouded it burned on till evening . All the doors and all the windows were set open , which gave a pleasant sense of summer freedom -- and freedom the most complete seemed indeed the order of the day . Teachers and pupils descended to breakfast in dressing-gowns and curl-papers : anticipating `` avec délices '' the toilette of the evening , they seemed to take a pleasure in indulging that forenoon in a luxury of slovenliness ; like aldermen fasting in preparation for a feast . About nine o'clock A.M. , an important functionary , the `` coiffeur , '' arrived . Sacrilegious to state , he fixed his head-quarters in the oratory , and there , in presence of _ bénitier _ , candle , and crucifix , solemnised the mysteries of his art . Each girl was summoned in turn to pass through his hands ; emerging from them with head as smooth as a shell , intersected by faultless white lines , and wreathed about with Grecian plaits that shone as if lacquered . I took my turn with the rest , and could hardly believe what the glass said when I applied to it for information afterwards ; the lavished garlandry of woven brown hair amazed me -- I feared it was not all my own , and it required several convincing pulls to give assurance to the contrary .