He went into the office timidly, and timidly inquired whether His Excellency were there; receiving the answer that he was not and would not be, Arkady Ivanovitch instantly thought of going to his flat, but reflected very prudently that if Yulian Mastakovitch had not come to the office he would certainly be busy at home.
— from White Nights and Other Stories The Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Volume X by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

It was said that, long before he died, he uttered three remarkable prophecies—one relating to himself, another to his friend, and the third to his patron, Pandolfo di Malatesta.
— from Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay

His enemies said that he feared to be on the side of the rebels, because if they were routed his property would be taken from him.
— from Complete Prose Works Specimen Days and Collect, November Boughs and Goodbye My Fancy by Walt Whitman

Adam had seen Dinah several times, but always at the Hall Farm, where he was not very vividly conscious of any woman's presence except Hetty's, and he had only in the last day or two begun to suspect that Seth was in love with her, so that his attention had not hitherto been drawn towards her for his brother's sake.
— from Adam Bede by George Eliot

Hereupon the soldiers were prevailed upon, and leaped out into the temple, and fought a terrible battle with the Jews; in which, while there were none over their heads to distress them, they were too hard for them, by their skill, and the others' want of skill, in war; but when once many of the Jews had gotten up to the top of the cloisters, and threw their darts downwards, upon the heads of the Romans, there were a great many of them destroyed.
— from The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Flavius Josephus

Susis is so fertile in grain, that barley and wheat produce, generally, one hundred, and sometimes two hundred fold.
— from The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3) Literally Translated, with Notes by Strabo

Give me your hand: before this holy friar, I am your husband, if you like of me.
— from Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare

He did so accordingly, and that with so much warmth and briskness, that he quickly baffled her weak repulses, and obliged the lady to refer him to her father, who, she knew, would quickly declare in favour of a coach and six.
— from Joseph Andrews, Vol. 1 by Henry Fielding

Uncle John's nieces withdrew to the protection of the doorway, but a big bearded fellow in a red shirt discovered them, and, lurching forward, pushed his evil countenance in Patsy's face, calling to his fellows in harsh tones that he had "found a partner for a dance."
— from Aunt Jane's Nieces on Vacation by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum

Hence the hearers felt that, what he said was not only inopportune, but was presented with a sort of zealous importunity.
— from Villa Eden: The Country-House on the Rhine by Berthold Auerbach

“My Lord, Alvarez here declares that his fate has been foretold by the stars, and that certain days in the year are unfavourable to him.
— from The Constant Prince by Christabel R. (Christabel Rose) Coleridge

His being was strung too high for the vibrations to be made audible in common utterance.
— from True to a Type, Vol. 1 (of 2) by Robert Cleland

Emilia alone of the party was as a blot to her Fine Shades were still too dominant at Brookfield Had Shakespeare's grandmother three Christian names?
— from Sandra Belloni (originally Emilia in England) — Complete by George Meredith

It would have been worse than useless to have interrupted the solemn revelation of Divine will with a lesson in comparative anatomy; the object of the passage in question being, not to teach the Jews the distinctive characteristics of a rodent and a ruminant, but to guard against their mistaking the Hare for one of the ruminants which were permitted as food.
— from Bible Animals; Being a Description of Every Living Creature Mentioned in the Scripture, from the Ape to the Coral. by J. G. (John George) Wood

She had brain fever, in fact, and they had their hands full, especially as they desired to take every precaution to prevent the neighbourhood from knowing there was any one but themselves in the house.
— from Stephen Archer, and Other Tales by George MacDonald

Though he felt the childish folly attaching to such an attempt, might he not at least cut into him, make a place for himself opposite him, force him to share, like those monarchs of neighbouring countries and equal power who treat each other as cousins?
— from Money (L'Argent) by Émile Zola

Considering now that he shoulde passe through Taxcallon to goe to Mexico , being Taxcallon a greate & strong Citie, and warlike people, he dispatched four Zeampoallanezes to the Lordes and Captaynes of that Citie, on the behalfe of Zempoallan and his owne, offering vnto them his friendship and fauour, giuing them to vnderstande, that those few Christians woulde come vnto their Citie to serue thē, desiring thē to accept the same, thinking assuredly that those of Taxcallon would haue done with him as the Zempoallanezes had done, which were both good and faithful, who had always vsed trouth with him, euē so he thought that now he moughte credite them, for they had enformed him, that the Tlaxcaltecas were their friendes, and so would be his, considering that they were vtter enimies to Mutezuma , and willingly would goe with him to the siege of Mexico , with desire of libertie, and to reuenge olde iniuries and griefes, whiche they had susteyned many yeares before of the people of Culhua .
— from The pleasant historie of the conquest of the VVeast India, now called new Spayne atchieued by the vvorthy Prince Hernando Cortes, marques of the Valley of Huaxacac, most delectable to reade by Francisco López de Gómara