It was my practice to be at my table every morning at 5:30 a.m; and it was also my practice to allow myself no mercy. An old groom, whose business it was to call me, and to whom I paid £ 5 a year extra for the duty, allowed himself no mercy. During all those years at Waltham Cross he was never once late with the coffee which it was his duty to bring me. I do not know that I ought not to feel that I owe more to him than to anyone else for the success I have had. By beginning at that hour I could complete my literary work before I dressed for breakfast.
Anthony Trollope: Autobiography, 1883
Launch contribution (fullscreen)