I don't understand why the group would be 'indignant', but the appropriate pace to pull at is whatever the guy in front of you is doing. Don't increase and don't slow down. If you can't maintain the pace, take a shorter pull but try and keep the speed constant.

What is annoying to riders in a paceline is if one more riders start rotating through when they are close to their limit and end up slowing down the group. This may have been a factor in your example.