Then said the countess, 'It behoveth me that you let tell the count my husband by some one in whom you trust, that your daughter is ready to do his every pleasure, so she may but be certified that he loveth her as he pretendeth, the which she will never believe, except he send her the ring which he carrieth on his finger and by which she hath heard he setteth such 181 store.
— from The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio by Giovanni Boccaccio

Eager, at that turning point of her national life, to serve England with strength of arm, at least, if not with the good brains which he was neither encouraged nor disposed to value highly, Steele's patriotism impelled him to make his start in the world, not by the way of patronage, but by enlisting himself as a private in the Coldstream Guards.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

— I mean my daughter; but, ere he shall have her, I'll sacrifice her on a pile of wood: I ha' the poison of the city 69 for him, And the white leprosy.
— from The Jew of Malta by Christopher Marlowe

But the Kentuckian scorns not only labor, but all the undertakings which labor promotes; as he lives in an idle independence, his tastes are those of an idle man; money loses a portion of its value in his eyes; he covets wealth much less than pleasure and excitement; and the energy which his neighbor devotes to gain, turns with him to a passionate love of field sports and military exercises; he delights in violent bodily exertion, he is familiar with the use of arms, and is accustomed from a very early age to expose his life in single combat.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville

And besides, how many of those elect, those mighty ones who could become elect, have grown weary waiting for Thee, and have transferred and will transfer the powers of their spirit and the warmth of their heart to the other camp, and end by raising their free banner against Thee.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Earl Sigvalde himself had 20 ships, but Earl Hakon had 60.
— from Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson

In the mind of Godfrey of Bouillon every human consideration was subordinate to the glory of God and the success of the crusade.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

But enough has been said to show what a wealth of interest lies beneath the calm exterior of ordinary village life.
— from English Villages by P. H. (Peter Hampson) Ditchfield

But either he was changeable in his moods, or during these early years he was hardly settled enough on the throne always to be able to carry out his wishes.
— from Landholding in England by Fisher, Joseph, F.R.H.S.

This Committee reported to the vestry, in March, 1818, that “the Bishop of London, as the most extensive proprietor as well as the patron of the church, &c.” had been consulted on the propriety of establishing a school for three hundred children; which they calculated might be supported for £175 per annum, while the expense of building the school room, was estimated at £650; and they further reported to the vestry, that the bishop expressed “his hearty good wishes for its success.”
— from Paddington: Past and Present by William Robins

At first there was a good deal of hesitation on the part of Hulton and Wyatt to engage in these pursuits, but everything had settled down so thoroughly, and peace seemed to be so well assured, that the officers of the tiny army of occupation felt themselves justified in taking a little relaxation; and many exciting hunts were the result, in all of which the Rajah and Hulton to some extent took part.
— from Draw Swords! In the Horse Artillery by George Manville Fenn

It soon became evident, however, that the hearers were moved by some other feeling, for I heard a profound titter or two behind me.
— from Helen's Babies by John Habberton

23. 'He who, having strengthened the hope of the mendicants by engaging himself to give, pays them with the harsh disappointment of a refusal, for him there is no expiation.
— from The Gâtakamâlâ; Or, Garland of Birth-Stories by Aryasura

Marcel put an end to my uneasiness, by handing me a letter which he had received for me at the door; it was from M. de T——. "He told me that, as G—— M—— had gone to his father's house for the money which he wanted, he had taken advantage of his absence to communicate to me an amusing idea that had just come into his head; that it appeared to him, I could not possibly take a more agreeable revenge upon my rival, than by eating his supper, and spending the night in the very bed which he had hoped to share with my mistress; all this seemed to him easy enough, if I could only find two or three men upon whom I could depend, of courage sufficient to stop him in the street, and detain him in custody until next morning; that he would undertake to keep him occupied for another hour at least, under some pretext, which he could devise before G—— M——'s return.
— from Manon Lescaut by abbé Prévost

In the course of her operations she encountered near St. Thomas the British ship "Hibernia;" the size of which, and her height above the water, by preventing boarding, enabled her successfully to repel attack, and the privateer was obliged to haul off, having lost three men killed and thirteen wounded.
— from Sea Power in its Relations to the War of 1812 Volume 2 by A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan

But the ‘all-crafty’ Loki sitting by, explained how this was owing to the hurry Freyja was in to behold her bridegroom, which left her no time to eat for the eight nights during which she had been journeying there.
— from The Dawn of History: An Introduction to Pre-Historic Study by C. F. (Charles Francis) Keary

But Edith had her misgivings about Gus also.
— from What Can She Do? by Edward Payson Roe