my annoyance was the ascription of motive to the secretary ==> I was annoyed that I was assuming the secretary had motive (assigning motive to the secretary), had some reason/agenda/motive for something she did. these feelings enhanced and entrenched by feelings of entitlement and habit.

verb regard something as being due to (a cause). "he ascribed Jane's short temper to her upset stomach" synonyms: attribute, assign, put down, set down, accredit, credit, give the credit for, chalk up, impute; More regard a text, quotation, or work of art as being produced by or belonging to (a particular person or period). "a quotation ascribed to Thomas Cooper" regard a quality as belonging to. "tough-mindedness is a quality commonly ascribed to top bosses"

ascription = the act of causing, but it is a very broad word with many uses and meanings depnding on the context. ascription is not usually used in everyday english it is used in technical or other texts. I cannot figure out what the text is actually trying to say.