It is one of his peculiarities, however, that he only relishes the beginning of an affray; he always goes into a fight with alacrity, but comes out of it grumbling even when victorious; and though no one fights with more obstinacy to carry a contested point, yet when the battle is over and he comes to the reconciliation he is so much taken up with the mere shaking of hands that he is apt to let his antagonist pocket all that they have been quarrelling about.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving

The day after these scandalous events, however, the prince had the honour of receiving a visit from Adelaida and her fiance, Prince S. They came, ostensibly, to inquire after his health.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The housemaid proffered her The Heir of Redclyffe , and the kitchen-maid, a somewhat oppressed damsel, timidly produced Gates Ajar .
— from Res Judicatæ: Papers and Essays by Augustine Birrell

“Excellent reasons every one; but really, Nat, the house is full, and I don’t know where I could put him,” said Mrs. Bhaer, more and more inclined to prove herself the haven of refuge he seemed to think her.
— from Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott

Being Englishmen, we laughed at the corporal's fears, and after supper and a smoke we turned in on the frail wicker-work, crate-like beds that had been provided for us, taking the precaution, however, to have our revolvers handy, and to put everything of value either under the beds or under our bodies.
— from The Treasure of the Tigris: A Tale of Mesopotamia by A. F. (Augustus Ferryman) Mockler-Ferryman

The situation or size of the dovecot will necessarily depend on convenience; but there is one point which must invariably be observed, and that is, that every pair of pigeons has two holes or rooms to nest in.
— from The Book of Household Management by Mrs. (Isabella Mary) Beeton

For Napoleon, such is human weakness, after having devoted to ridicule the pretensions of " the King of Hartwell ," was inclined to persuade himself, that his own reign had not been interrupted by his residence in the island of Elba.
— from Memoirs of the Private Life, Return, and Reign of Napoleon in 1815, Vol. II by Fleury de Chaboulon, Pierre Alexandre Édouard, baron

Leycesteria formosa is being tried in mass for winter colour in some gardens, but I venture to feel a little doubtful of its success; for though the skin of the half-woody stem is bright green, the plant has the habit of retaining some of its leaves and the remains of its flowering tips till January, or even later.
— from Colour in the flower garden by Gertrude Jekyll

But art had not in this instance proved herself the handmaid of religion.
— from A Singular Life by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps

The interest that he and his partner had the honour of representing might be called one of the Institutions of Southwark; and they prided themselves upon the fact that their premises were, as a wag had observed, among the peculiar fetors of the locality.
— from Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various