Read "The Country House" by John Galsworthy online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
At the head of the breakfast-table sat Mr. Pendyce, eating methodically. He was somewhat silent, as became a man who has just read family prayers; but about that silence, and the pile of half-opened letters on his right, was a hint of autocracy.
"Be informal -- do what you like, dress as you like, sit where you like, eat what you like, drink tea or coffee, but -- -- " Each glance of his eyes, each sentence of his sparing, semi-genial talk, seemed to repeat that "but".