Mr. Phileas Fogg lived, in 1872, at No. 7, Saville Row, Burlington Gardens. ... He was one of the most noticeable members of the Reform
Club,1 though he seemed always to avoid attracting attention; a
[mysterious) personage, about whom little was known, except that he was a
polished man of the world. ...
2 Was Phileas Fogg rich? Undoubtedly. But those who knew him best
could not imagine how he had made his fortune, and Mr. Fogg was the last
person to whom to apply for the information. He was not lavish, nor, on the
contrary, [greedy]; for, whenever he knew that money was needed for a
noble, useful, or benevolent purpose, he supplied it quietly and sometimes
anonymously. He was, in short, the least communicative of men. He talked
very little, and seemed all the more mysterious for his taciturn4 manner. His
daily habits were quite open to observation; but whatever he did was so
exactly the same thing that he had always done before, that the wits of the
curious were fairly puzzled.
3 Had he travelled? It was likely, for no one seemed to know the world
more familiarly; there was no spot so secluded that he did not appear to
have an intimate acquaintance with it. He often corrected, with a few clear
words, the thousand conjectures 5 advanced by members of the club as to