Don't fear, it's not a complaint of the story structure.
Rather, it's an observation of how something I normally think of as contemporary had also been used as early as the late nineteenth century.
I'm sure you've heard someone say this before, if not having said it yourself. Have a read:
Then Pinocchio, losing all patience, grabbed the knocker with both hands, fully determined to awaken the whole house and street with it. As soon as he touched the knocker, however, it became an eel and wiggled away into the darkness.
See? The inclination to say the word "really" in miffed sarcasm existed even back then. I don't know about you, but in my mind that had been 'invented' by Amy Poehler on Saturday Night Live. No, I don't really (ha!) believe that she'd been the source of it. I just know that after I heard/saw her do it a few too many years back now, it seemed to be on everyone's lips.
Oh - and note the "What the...?" regarding that eel. ;)

