“Thus did Richard Calmady reason with and essay to solace himself for the fact that some fruits are forbidden to him who holds honour dear. Reasoned with and solaced himself to such good purpose, as he fondly imagined, that when, an hour and a half later, he established himself in the trainer's dining-room, a mighty breakfast outspread before him, he felt quite another man. Racing cups adorned the chimneypiece and sideboard, portraits of race-horses and jockeys adorned the walls. The sun streamed in between the red rep curtains, causing the pot-plants in the window to give off a pleasant scent, and the canary, in his swinging blue and white painted cage above them, to sing. Mrs. Chifney, her cheeks pink, her manner slightly fluttered,--as were her lilac cap strings,--presided over the silver tea and coffee service, admonished the staid and bulky tom-cat who, jumping on the arm of Dickie's chair, extended a scooping tentative paw towards his plate, and issued gentle though peremptory orders to her husband regarding the material needs of her guest. To Mrs. Chifney such entertainings as the present marked the red-letter days of her calendar. Temporarily she forgave Chifney the doubtful nature of his calling and his occasional outbreaks of profane swearing alike. She ceased to regret that snug might-have-been, little, grocery business in a country town. She forgot even to hanker after prayer meetings, anniversary teas, and other mild, soul-saving dissipations unauthorised by the Church of England. She ruffled her feathers, so to speak, and cooed to the young man half in feudal, half in unsatisfied maternal affection--for Mrs. Chifney was childless. And it followed that as he teased her a little, going back banteringly on certain accepted subjects of difference between them, praised, and made a hole, in her fresh-baked rolls, her nicely browned, fried potatoes, her clear, crinkled rashers, assuring her it gave one an appetite merely to sit down in a room so shiningly clean and spick and span, she was supremely happy. And Dickie was happy too, and blessed the exercise, the food, and the society of these simple persons, which, after his evil night, seemed to have restored to him his wiser and better self.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
* * * * * GOOD STRONG USEFUL CONGOU, 2s. 6d., 2s. 8d., 2s. 10d., 3s., and 3s. 4d. PURE COFFEES, 1s., 1s. 2d., 1s. 4d., 1s. 6d. _A PRICE-CURRENT FREE._ Pure Preserving and other Sugars at Market Prices. * * * * * ALL GOODS SENT CARRIAGE FREE WITHIN EIGHT MILES OF LONDON. Teas and Coffees _Carriage Free_ to all England, if to value of 40s. * * * * * PHILLIPS AND COMPANY, TEA MERCHANTS, KING WILLIAM STREET, CITY, LONDON, E.C.
Sources: The passage is from Lucas Malet, The History of Sir Richard Calmady: A Romance, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Francatelli, A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes of 1852, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — ochre cloth, teapot stamp.