He wanted to find out at once where she was, so he ran to her lodging and learnt an unexpected and astounding piece of news—she had gone off to Mokroe to meet her first lover.”
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The schoolmaster now bestowed both whip and heel upon the starveling ribs of old Gunpowder, who dashed forward, snuffing and snorting, but came to a stand just by the bridge with a suddenness that had nearly sent his rider sprawling over his head.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving

"I was saying, senora," he replied, "that in the courts of other princes, when the cloth is taken away, I have always heard say they give water for the hands, but not lye for the beard; and that shows it is good to live long that you may see much; to be sure, they say too that he who lives a long life must undergo much evil, though to undergo a washing of that sort is pleasure rather than pain."
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

"I myself, though I am now on the shelf, have rubbed about in my time, and can tell a bird by its flight.
— from Fathers and Sons by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

And an unprepossessing individual in a top-hat, with a chin that badly needed shaving, hung round me, shifting from one foot to the other, then turned to me with the words: “‘Do you know who that lady is, walking on the other bank?
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

But though so much of the matter was known to them already, that Mrs. Jennings might have had enough to do in spreading that knowledge farther, without seeking after more, she had resolved from the first to pay a visit of comfort and inquiry to her cousins as soon as she could; and nothing but the hindrance of more visitors than usual, had prevented her going to them within that time.
— from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

The pity of it was that the office came to him so late, and that, when “the Party” thought fit to recognise his services, they should have recognised them so trivially.
— from Charles Lever, His Life in His Letters, Vol. I by Charles James Lever

Emmie's look of delighted surprise when she heard the plan was worth seeing, her rapturous hug of gratitude not altogether disagreeable, provided it were not too frequently repeated; and Herbert grasped my hand more fervently than usual when I asked for his approval.
— from Countess Vera; or, The Oath of Vengeance by Miller, Alex. McVeigh, Mrs.

Lena started; but she could scarcely have reached the square in front of Michael's church, when the old woman, who had been lying in a half doze sat upright and called: "Lena ..." "Lena is not here."
— from German Fiction by Gottfried Keller

[Pg 203] She was taken by surprise, and yet she was conscious that to see Reynold Harding was what she had really been hoping and dreading from the first.
— from Mitchelhurst Place: A Novel. Vol. 2 (of 2) by Margaret Veley

Madame Vilers was startled, shut her eyes, fired off both barrels and staggered at the recoil of the gun; but when she had recovered her self-possession, she saw that the Baron was dancing about like a madman, and that Medor was bringing back the first of the two partridges which she had killed.
— from The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Volume 4 by Guy de Maupassant

Then, turning again to the mirror, with a shrug of the shoulders, he raised the shears to his beard.
— from The Right of Way — Complete by Gilbert Parker

But she was regardless of the opinion of the world; she sought her reward in the source from whence her virtue was derived—and she found it.—He, who, for wise and merciful purposes, suffered her to be afflicted, supported her under her trials; thereby calling forth the exercise of those virtues with which He had adorned her gentle soul; and imparting to her a degree of heart-felt comfort, which no earthly blessing could afford.’
— from Mary Wollstonecraft's Original Stories by Mary Wollstonecraft

Farewell, Mary." As he thus spoke, he raised her hand to his lips, and kissed it for the first time, it might be for the last, in his life.
— from The Cock and Anchor by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

I consulted with cook on the subject of securing ample and pleasing variety, combined with unquestionable nourishment; and judging by the amount of information she was able to give me as to what “they” like, you would have thought she had reared a whole family of husbands!
— from Between the Larch-woods and the Weir by Flora Klickmann

Kate sat still for some time after she had read her letter.
— from Ombra by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant