The Remains of the Day Chapter 4 Summary

Day Three, Morning, Taunton, Somerset

  • The previous night, Stevens arrived at the Coach and Horses, an inn outside Taunton, Somerset.
  • Feeling restless, he went down to the bar, where he cracked a joke that no one got.
  • It's now morning and Stevens is enjoying some tea. He goes off on a tangent about polishing silver.
  • Stevens then flashes back to the '30s, when Darlington sometimes hosted Herr Ribbentrop, the German ambassador, at Darlington Hall, along with Sir Oswald Mosley, head of the British Union of Fascists.
  • While people now kind of hate Darlington for associating with the Nazis, Stevens defends his previous employer, recalling that many aristocratic families welcomed Ribbentrop into their homes.
  • Stevens then remembers that he accidentally left a smudge on some silver, which he quietly replaced for Mr. Farraday.