The Rambling Rector Author:Eleanor Alexander General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1904 Original Publisher: E. Arnold Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can selec... more »t from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER XIV A FAUX-PAS The wonderful man arrived on Monday afternoon and asked for the Rector. He was shown into the drawing- room. " The teapot looks real cute," he said, as he shook hands with Miss Owen. "Yea," said the Rector, smiling; "my aunt told me that you rubbed it up when you were here on Saturday. I never saw a teapot so much improved in my life. John Robert ought to be ashamed of himself." " I don't fancy he is, though," remarked Mr. O'Longhlin. " There are two classes of people all the world over, but I think you notice it more in Ireland than elsewhere. There are those who make mistakes and those who never make mistakes. Those who make mistakes are the people who get on in life ; those who never make mistakes are the people who stick. Your John Robert is, I calculate, of the second class." Miss Owen motioned him to a chair. His long speech had rather disconcerted her. She had intended to ask him to be seated with condescending courtesy as soon as he came in, but he seemed quite at his ease. He did not at once accept her invitation, but continued to stand while she poured out his tea. " I should have liked to bring you some more Christmas roses, but Mrs. Sam said I annexed all there were Saturday. No, thank you ; no sugar. What good hot biscuits these are!" " I made them myself," said Miss Owen ; " it is an oldfamily receipt." She felt that it would be an undying regret that she had not made any on Saturday afternoon. " Now, sir," said Mr. O'Loughlin, turning to Geoffrey, " I really came to see you on business. I did not mean to intrude on Miss Owen a...« less