Explore "The Guilty River" by Wilkie Collins on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Leaving the cottage for the second time, I was met at the door by a fat man of solemn appearance dressed in black, who respectfully touched his hat. My angry humor acknowledged the harmless stranger's salute by a rude inquiry: "What the devil do you want? " Instead of resenting this uncivil language, he indirectly reproved me by becoming more respectful than ever.
"My mistress desires me to tell you, sir, that luncheon is waiting. " I was in the presence of a thoroughbred English servant -- and I had failed to discover it until he spoke of his mistress! I had also, by keeping luncheon waiting, treated an English institution with contempt. And, worse even than this, as a misfortune which personally affected me, my stepmother evidently knew that I had paid another visit to the mill.