It's not just the action...

From chapter 9, part 2:

Wolseley snorted. “The Duke of 'every change to be made at the right time, and the right time is when you cannot help it'? … he actually said that to me once

From The Spectator, 21 March 1925 (emphasis added):

The Duke of Cambridge opposed to Wolseley's ardour what may be called the philosophy of retarded action. At the end of his Commandership-in-Chief he said: 'Gentlemen, there have been changes—great changes. But I can say this. Every change has been made at the right time and the right time is when you cannot help it.'