In the Reading Room at the Museum he sat at Block B ("B for Butler")
and spent an hour "posting his notes"--that is reconsidering,
rewriting, amplifying, shortening, and indexing the contents of the
little note-book he always carried in his pocket. After the notes
he went on till 1.30 with whatever book he happened to be writing.
On three days of the week he dined in a restaurant on his way home,
and on the other days he dined in his chambers where his laundress
had cooked his dinner. At two o'clock Alfred returned (having been
home to dinner with his wife and children) and got tea ready for
him. He then wrote letters and attended to his accounts till 3.45,
when he smoked his first cigarette. He used to smoke a great deal,
but, believing it to be bad for him, took to cigarettes instead of
pipes, and gradually smoked less and less, making it a rule not to
begin till some particular hour, and pushing this hour later and
later in the day, till it settled itself at 3.45. There was no
water laid on in his rooms, and every day he fetched one can full
from the tap in the court, Alfred fetching the rest.
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