No doubt she took my look of surprise for consent, for she opened the inner door and called out up the dark stairs which I could not see: “Carlotta!
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

The same monstrous depravity appears in their veal, which is bleached by repeated bleedings, and other villainous arts, till there is not a drop of juice left in the body, and the poor animal is paralytic before it dies; so void of all taste, nourishment, and savour, that a man might dine as comfortably on a white fricassee of kid-skin gloves; or chip hats from Leghorn.
— from The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by T. (Tobias) Smollett

This being done, in token of great mystery he covered himself with wet sackcloth, and drawing a curtain of crimson satin, showed us an image daubed over, coarsely enough, to my thinking; then he touched it with a pretty long stick, and made us all kiss the part of the stick that had touched the image.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

Eugene, bringing them to the table, sat down as clerk or notary.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

Men should be so discreet as to evade this tormenting and unprofitable knowledge: and the Romans had a custom, when returning from any expedition, to send home before to acquaint their wives with their coming, that they might not surprise them; and to this purpose it is that a certain nation has introduced a custom, that the priest shall on the wedding-day open the way to the bride, to free the husband from the doubt and curiosity of examining in the first assault, whether she comes a virgin to his bed, or has been at the trade before.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

What I ask of you is reasonable and moderate; I demand a creature of another sex, but as hideous as myself; the gratification is small, but it is all that I can receive, and it shall content me.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

It might have been expected that the old gentleman would have been penetrated to the heart by the delicacy and condescension of this appeal, and that he would at least have returned a courteous and suitable reply.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm works. *
— from Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

She ate a little bread, and drank a cup of water, but refused to taste anything else, and finding it in vain to press her, Garnet returned to the kitchen, where, being much exhausted, he recruited himself with a hearty meal and a cup of wine.
— from Guy Fawkes; or, The Gunpowder Treason: An Historical Romance by William Harrison Ainsworth

Now the devil has lost a sinner; there is a captive has broke prison, and one run away from his master: now hell seems to be awakened from sleep, the devils are come out, they roar, and roaring they seek to recover their runaway.
— from Works of John Bunyan — Complete by John Bunyan

History of the discovery and conquest of Mexico, written in 1568, by Captain Bernal Diaz del Castillo, one of the conquerors.
— from A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 18 Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery, Navigation, and Commerce, from the Earliest Records to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century, By William Stevenson by William Stevenson

When Solon was gone, the citizens began to quarrel; Lycurgus headed the Plain; Megacles, the son of Alcmaeon, those of the Sea-side; and Pisistratus the Hill-party, in which were the poorest people, the Thetes, and greatest enemies to the rich; insomuch that, though the city still used the new laws, yet all looked for and desired a change of government, hoping severally that the change would be better for them, and put them above the contrary faction.
— from The Boys' and Girls' Plutarch Being Parts of the "Lives" of Plutarch, Edited for Boys and Girls by Plutarch

He then cut himself a supply of cold veal, that might have dined a couple of grouse-shooters, with ham in proportion, not at all carved on the Vauxhall pattern, and glancing at all the observant eyes around the table, he added, endeavoring to look in a more amiable mood, while a most unpleasing attempt at a smile for a moment disturbed his features; "I see, gentlemen, you are somewhat amazed at my powers of mastication!
— from Modern Flirtations: A Novel by Catherine Sinclair

The little Savoyard had just discharged a cargo of miladies , bound to England, after having had them on his charter-party eighteen months, and was now on the look-out for a return freight.
— from A Residence in France With an Excursion Up the Rhine, and a Second Visit to Switzerland by James Fenimore Cooper

You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
— from Weymouth New Testament in Modern Speech, Philemon by Richard Francis Weymouth

He Ruined the French Fleet.—Madame des Ursins at Last Resolves to Return to Spain.—Favours Heaped upon Her.— M. de Lauzun at the Army.—His bon mot.—Conduct of M. de Vendome.— Disgrace and Character of the Grand Prieur. VOLUME 5.
— from Court Memoirs of France Series — Complete by Various