nine o'clock
For all her employees she demanded a ten-hour day , she worked fourteen ; rising at six and not getting to bed till eleven , when her charges were all safely in their rooms for the night . They were all up at five-thirty or thereabouts , breakfasting at six , and the girls off in time to reach their various places by seven . Their day was from 7 A. M. to 8.30 P. M. , with half an hour out , from 11.30 to twelve , for their lunch ; and three hours , between 2.20 and 5.30 , for their own time , including their tea . Then they worked again from 5.30 to 8.30 , on the dinner and the dishes , and then they came home to a pleasant nine o'clock supper , and had all hour to dance or rest before the 10.30 bell for bed time . Special friends and `` cousins '' often came home with them , and frequently shared the supper -- for a quarter -- and the dance for nothing . It was no light matter in the first place to keep twenty girls contented with such a regime , and working with the steady excellence required , and in the second place to keep twenty employers contented with them . There were failures on both sides ; half a dozen families gave up the plan , and it took time to replace them ; and three girls had to be asked to resign before the year was over .