She addressed herself to the Sergeant, without appearing to notice (or to heed) that he was a perfect stranger to her.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

“I’m to have, with another party,” said Harry, “a big contract in the road, as soon as it is let; and, meantime, I’m with the engineers to spy out the best land and the depot sites.”
— from The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Charles Dudley Warner

This, however, was a profound secret, not to be breathed beyond their own circle.
— from Persuasion by Jane Austen

‘It was now clear that he had the capacity and inclination to learn, that he was a proper subject for instruction, and needed only persevering attention.
— from American Notes by Charles Dickens

“Good-morning, Marya Konstantinovna,” Samoylenko shouted to her with a pleasant smile.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

And Terénty would begin talking of the destruction of Moscow, and of the old count, and would stand for a long time holding the clothes and talking, or sometimes listening to Pierre’s stories, and then would go out into the hall with a pleasant sense of intimacy with his master and affection for him.
— from War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

During thunderstorms a bit of the wreath is burned on the hearth with a prayer; some of it is given to kine that are sick or calving, and some of it serves to fumigate house and cattle-stall, that man and beast may keep hale and well.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer

Oswald watched the exulting companion who sat opposite to him with a peculiar sense of pleasure, not unmixed with envy.
— from Through Night to Light: A Novel by Friedrich Spielhagen

"And you believe it all," said Rosa, turning to him with a pitying smile as Bassett concluded his tale.
— from Salthaven by W. W. (William Wymark) Jacobs

If any one contemplating mission work in Japan remembers that he was a poor student of languages at college and made little progress in them, let him feel assured that he can probably serve the Lord better at home.
— from The Gist of Japan: The Islands, Their People, and Missions by R. B. (Rufus Benton) Peery

"Are you sure of that?" asked the hermit with a peculiar smile, which inspired new hope in Robert.
— from Robert Coverdale's Struggle; Or, on the Wave of Success by Alger, Horatio, Jr.

You would not have thought, to look at him, that he was a poor, struggling man seated beside a rich woman; the calm of equality stilled his aspect; perhaps that calm, too, reigned in his soul.
— from Shirley by Charlotte Brontë

He 'phoned downstairs that he wanted a private sitting room, and breakfast for two, with flowers on the table, in half an hour.
— from The Great Pearl Secret by A. M. (Alice Muriel) Williamson

"That would be the time for you to hurry with a pigeon's swiftness so that your King might taste his bitter news not a minute later than need be.
— from Clementina by A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason