Excerpt from The Blindness of Dr. Gray

The Very Reverend William Gray, D.D., Parish Priest of the united parishes of Doonvarragh, Lackagh, and Athboy, came down to breakfast one dark, gloomy December morning in the year of our Lord 18 - .He had risen early, like all the old priests of his generation, made his half-hour's meditation according to his rigorous rule and habit, made his quarter-hour's preparation for Mass, celebrated the Holy Sacrifice, and with the burden of years and the cares which the years will bring, came slowly down the softly-carpeted stairs, and glancing with an ominous shrug of the shoulders at the pile of letters which lay on his writing desk, he sat down to table, broke his egg, looked out on the gloomy wintry landscape, shuddered a little, pushed aside the egg, ate a crust of toast rather meditatively than with any appetite for such things, drank a cup of tea, and pulled the bell. His aged domestic made her appearance.

"Has the paper come?"
"No, " she said. "The boy is always late these times."
"These times?" he asked sharply. "Why these times?"
"Near Christmas, " she replied, rubbing her hands in her check apron, "everything is late. Everybody is in a hurry."
"What has that to do with the daily paper?" he said.
"That might be an excuse for a late post. But what has that to do with the paper? Remove those things."

He turned to his pile of letters.

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