four o’clock
They are to be found there as often as anywhere ; and , when existing , find in that peculiar state of society a brilliant opportunity to exhibit their domestic talent . Such a housekeeper Marie St. Clare was not , nor her mother before her . Indolent and childish , unsystematic and improvident , it was not to be expected that servants trained under her care should not be so likewise ; and she had very justly described to Miss Ophelia the state of confusion she would find in the family , though she had not ascribed it to the proper cause . The first morning of her regency , Miss Ophelia was up at four o'clock ; and having attended to all the adjustments of her own chamber , as she had done ever since she came there , to the great amazement of the chambermaid , she prepared for a vigorous onslaught on the cupboards and closets of the establishment of which she had the keys . The store-room , the linen-presses , the china-closet , the kitchen and cellar , that day , all went under an awful review . Hidden things of darkness were brought to light to an extent that alarmed all the principalities and powers of kitchen and chamber , and caused many wonderings and murmurings about `` dese yer northern ladies '' from the domestic cabinet . Old Dinah , the head cook , and principal of all rule and authority in the kitchen department , was filled with wrath at what she considered an invasion of privilege .