Read "The Way of all Flesh" by Samuel Butler online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Long before Ernest reached the dining-room his ill-divining soul had told him that his sin had found him out. What head of a family ever sends for any of its members into the dining-room if his intentions are honourable?
When he reached it he found it empty -- his father having been called away for a few minutes unexpectedly upon some parish business -- and he was left in the same kind of suspense as people are in after they have been ushered into their dentist's anteroom.