you were bound to warn me

[shootingstar]

. . .
It may have been a fortnight later that I divined the secret of the wriiting-pad. My wretch (it leaked out) wrote letters for a paper in the West, and had filled a part of one of them with descriptions of myself. I pointed out to him that he had no right to do so without asking my permission.
"Why, this is just what I hoped!" he exclaimed. "I thought you didn't seem to catch on; only it seemed too good to be true."
" But, my good fellow, you were bound to warn me," I objected. "I know it's generally considered etiquette," he admitted; "but between friends, and when it was only with a view of serving you, I thought it wouldn't matter . . .

(R. L. Stevenson and L. Osbourne, The Wrecker, Chapter III)

What does warn mean there? It appears the normal meaning doesn't fit the context.

 

[5jj]

1. To notify or make aware in advance of something, especially of possible danger or misfortune:
warned boaters of the coming storm;
warned me that they might be delayed.

The American Heritage Dictionary entry: warn

The American Heritage Dictionary entry: warn

www.ahdictionary.com

 

[Barque]

It appears the normal meaning doesn't fit the context.

Why not? Maybe there's no danger involved here but it was something the narrator feels he should have been informed of in advance.

you were bound to warn me,

You were obliged to tell me in advance, so that I'd be prepared.

I haven't really understand what was going on by the way. Who's the other person to the narrator, and why would a paper in the West be interested in a description of the narrator?

 

[shootingstar]

Thank you both very much for helping.

I haven't really understand what was going on by the way.

The plot is as follows: They, Loudon Dodd and Jim Pinkerton, are art students in Paris and friends.. However one of them, Jim, is a businessman rather than an artist. Jim didn't have any advantages of a good education when he was young. So he is eager to pick up any refined phrases when they are talking about Loudon's new statue (Loudon is a sculptor) and he scribbles some of them down in his writing-pad. He wants to be a cultivated man rather than a follower of the fine arts. He sends the account of this talk to a paper in the US, his homeland, bristled with phrases he had picked up during the talk with Loudon. The trouble for Jim is Loudon isn't interested in being outed like that.