Sir Alexander Heathcote is called ‘an exact man’ because he was very disciplined and punctual in his everyday life. The narrator mentions that he rose at seven o’clock every morning. The egg for his breakfast was to be cooked for precisely four minutes. He would take two pieces of toast with one spoonful of Cooper’s marmalade and drink one cup of China tea. He would take the carriage from his home at exactly eight-twenty and reach the Foreign Office at eight-fifty-nine, returning home again at six o’clock. All these are proof enough how exact Sir Alexander was.