From the first arrival of the young ladies in Tipton she had prearranged Dorothea's marriage with Sir James, and if it had taken place would have been quite sure that it was her doing: that it should not take place after she had preconceived it, caused her an irritation which every thinker will sympathize with.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot

[Fire-alarm; a pause] I come here and find their mother shouting and angry.
— from Plays by Anton Chekhov, Second Series by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

By this time Cleonicus had been backwards and forwards two or three times; and as the Aetolians begged that he would meet them personally in conference, he assented, and abandoning all warlike measures, he sent couriers to the allied cities, bidding their commissioners to sit in the conference with him and take part in the discussion of the terms of peace: Zacynthus visited by Philip.
— from The Histories of Polybius, Vol. 1 (of 2) by Polybius

A legitimate proceeding is cold, heavy, and constrained, and not fit to make head against a headstrong and unbridled proceeding.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

When this saying was reported by the messenger, it seemed to them 19 that it was well spoken; and, as is reported by the Egyptians, Croesus shed tears (for he also, as fortune would have it, had accompanied Cambyses to Egypt) and the Persians who were present shed tears also; and there entered some pity into Cambyses himself, and forthwith he bade them save the life of the son of Psammenitos from among those who were being put to death, and also he bade them raise Psammenitos himself from his place in the suburb of the city and bring him into his own presence.
— from The History of Herodotus — Volume 1 by Herodotus

My next difficulty was to make a sieve or searce, to dress my meal, and to part it from the bran and the husk; without which I did not see it possible I could have any bread.
— from The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Pleased that this day I find, if I please, I can have all my money in that I have out of my hands, but I am at a loss whether to take it in or no, and pleased also to hear of Mrs. Barbara Sheldon’s good fortune, who is like to have Mr. Wood’s son, the mast-maker, a very rich man, and to be married speedily, she being already mighty fine upon it.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

If, for example, the enemy has announced that the candy your aviators are dropping is poisoned (and has proved it by dropping some of "your" candy, made by his black-operations boys and actually poisoned), there is no point in calling him a liar; you may not know for some time whether poisoned candy has been dropped or not.
— from Psychological Warfare by Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger

"The ship wherein Europa was conveyed from Phœnicia into Crete had a bull for its flag, and Jupiter for its tutelary deity.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

The more I looked at everything in the house, the more I was struck with its quasi-European character; and had the walls only been pasted over with extracts from the Illustrated London News and Punch , I could have almost fancied myself in a shepherd’s hut upon my master’s sheep-run.
— from Erewhon; Or, Over the Range by Samuel Butler

"Have they given a reason for this command?" "Yes; they say they know assuredly that the King of Prussia is concealed here, and they come to search the cloister."
— from Berlin and Sans-Souci; Or, Frederick the Great and His Friends by L. (Luise) Mühlbach

At night when the palace is closed half a dozen huge cheetahs, savage beasts of the leopard family, are released in the corridors, and, as you may imagine, they are efficient watchmen.
— from Modern India by William Eleroy Curtis

Pleased that this day I find, if I please, I can have all my money in that I have out of my hands, but I am at a loss whether to take it in or no, and pleased also to hear of Mrs. Barbara Sheldon's good fortune, who is like to have Mr. Wood's son, the mast-maker, a very rich man, and to be married speedily, she being already mighty fine upon it.
— from Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete 1666 N.S. by Samuel Pepys

The two-and-a-half-shilling piece is called half a crown, the five-shilling piece sometimes a crown and sometimes, in slang language, "five bob."
— from How to Travel Hints, Advice, and Suggestions to Travelers by Land and Sea all over the Globe. by Thomas Wallace Knox

Certainly there was no connection Mrs. Poynsett less wished to encourage; yet she could not endure to play into Camilla’ hands, and made reply, “There are many matters in which young men must judge for themselves.
— from The Three Brides by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

“My mother told me to get the best price I could,” he answered.
— from Fairy Tales from Many Lands by Katharine Pyle

The frail carving on the screen commemorates the first of the Breretons, who resided at Handforth, and the name of the last of them is written upon one of the altar-tombs, but of that Sir William Brereton whose name figures so prominently in Cheshire history, and who played so conspicuous a part in the great struggle between King and Parliament that preceded the Commonwealth, not a single memento has been preserved.
— from Historic Sites of Lancashire and Cheshire A Wayfarer's Notes in the Palatine Counties, Historical, Legendary, Genealogical, and Descriptive. by James Croston

For I feel now as if I had in a measure atoned to Helen for the pain I caused her about that wretched Rathborne."
— from Fairy Gold by Christian Reid

But a ship from France brought news to De Monts that enemies at court were working against his Company, and leaving Pontgravé in command he and Poutrincourt returned home, to see what they could do to further the interests of the colony in Paris.
— from Days of the Discoverers by Louise Lamprey