ten o'clock in the morning
* * * * * At the same time , the servants of the Elorza mansion were coming and going , hither and thither , with various objects in their hands . Pedro , the old coachman , was polishing the state carriage , while two stable-boys were grooming the horses . Martin , the cook , was preparing a splendid collation . The maid-servants were running up and down stairs , from the principal floor to Maria 's apartments , which were full of people , though it was not yet ten o'clock in the morning . The fifteen or twenty ladies who could scarcely find room to turn around , were all talking at once , as is natural , turning that silent elegant retreat into an insufferable hen-roost . Standing in the middle of it was Señor de Elorza 's eldest daughter , half-dressed , and around her were several ladies , some of them on their knees , adorning her and adjusting her as though she were a wooden virgin . Great emotion reigned everywhere .