I had better be thought artful and subtle, than be so, in his sense; and, as light as he makes of the words virtue and innocence in me, he would have made a less angry construction, had I less deserved that he should do so; for then, may be, my crime should have been my virtue with him naughty gentleman as he is!
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson

Don't wear your scarlet CREPE-DE-CHINE for dinner, and don't smoke if you can help it, Lily dear!" Lily pushed aside her finished work with a dry smile.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

It began to rain, not much, but enough to make shelter desirable for women, and quite enough to make it very desirable for Miss Elliot to have the advantage of being conveyed home in Lady Dalrymple's carriage, which was seen waiting at a little distance; she, Anne, and Mrs Clay, therefore, turned into Molland's, while Mr Elliot stepped to Lady Dalrymple, to request her assistance.
— from Persuasion by Jane Austen

When we came home I lay down on my bed, not taking any dinner, and seeing nothing of the three sisters till they had made everything ready for the journey.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

"That, too, is supplied, Stefan; you can hear it leaping down the mountain-side, and see it too," and the boy pointed to a corner of the plateau which was within reach of the narrow stream which, from the heights, fell with many a cascade into the pass beneath.
— from Princess Maritza by Percy James Brebner

4555, Proceedings of the International Naval Conference held in London, December 1908-1909, p. 57.
— from International Law. A Treatise. Volume 1 (of 2) Peace. Second Edition by L. (Lassa) Oppenheim

This visit of Lord Effingham's was a great shock to Kate; how was she to clear herself in Lady Desmond's eyes from the suspicion that she had consented so readily to remain in London in order to see her accepted lover more frequently.
— from Kate Vernon: A Tale. Vol. 3 (of 3) by Mrs. Alexander

Would a shepherd, that could help it, let dogs worry his sheep? Kill her!
— from The Little Minister by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie

In the middle of the field, yoked by the bonnet to a second plough and a fellow-ox, the companion had inconsiderately lain down, to the great inconvenience of its foolish partner, which remained standing, with its head forced into the most unpleasant angle downwards, and the stoical expression of a true Mussulman underneath its bonnet.
— from In the Tail of the Peacock by Isabel Savory

Mrs. Dangerfield's beautiful eyes were very wide open; and she said rather breathlessly: "You got money out of your Aunt Amelia for a cats' home in Little Deeping?" "Oh, yes," said the Terror carelessly.
— from The Terrible Twins by Edgar Jepson

“College hasn’t taught you much sense, Chub, has it?” laughed Dick.
— from Captain Chub by Ralph Henry Barbour