Moreover, he prospered.

The doors were now open from nine o'clock in the morning to twelve at night.

There was a bar for the supply of alcoholic drinks--the traditional porter had always been fetched from a neighbouring house--and frivolities such as tea and coffee were in constant demand.
This change told grievously upon Mr.Sparkes.At the first mention of it he determined to resign but the weakness in his character shrank from such a decided step, and he allowed himself to be drawn into a painfully false position.

The proprietor did not wish to lose him.

Mr.
Sparkes was a slim, upright, grave-featured man, whose deportment had its market value; his side-whiskers and shaven lip gave him a decidedly clerical aspect, which, together with long experience and a certain austerity of command, well fitted him for superintending the younger waiters.