Nothing could be trusted to servants that was not, in some way, defectively done, causing repeated complaints from the boarders.

What proved most annoying was the bad cooking, to remedy which Mrs.
Darlington strove in vain.

One day the coffee was not fit to drink, and on the next day the steak would be burnt or broiled as dry as a chip, or the sirloin roasted until every particle of juice had evaporated.

If hot cakes were ordered for breakfast, ten chances to one that they were not sour; or, if rolls were baked, they would, most likely, be as heavy as lead.
Such mishaps were so frequent, that the guests of Mrs.Darlington became impatient, and Mr.Scragg, in particular, never let an occasion for grumbling or insolence pass without fully improving it.
"Is your coal out ?" said he, one morning, about this time, as he sat at the breakfast table.
Mrs.Darlington understood, by the man's tone and manner, that he meant to be rude, though she did not comprehend the meaning of the question.
"No, sir," she replied, with some dignity of manner.

"Why do you ask ?" "It struck me," he answered, "that such might be the case.