Besides which it isn't true, whereas what I'm saying about the English is an absolute fact.

Take yourself, for example.
What was it that upset your temper just now in the study?
Was it an overwhelming love for the abstract quality of punctuality?
I should have some respect for you if I thought it was, but I can't think that.
Nobody who knows you could.

You wouldn't care a pin if everybody in the world was late for every engagement they made for a whole year.
What you do care about is your own miserable stomach.

If it isn't filled at just exactly the usual moment you get savage, although you are usually a fairly good-tempered man.

That demonstrates the truth of what I say.