Madimirez

“Last night,” he said, reminiscently, “you bound my arm—the merest scratch! with all the tenderness of which a woman is capable when her compassion is aroused. Today, you propose to shoot me in cold blood for no better reason than that I will not gratify your curiosity! It has been truly said that females are strange creatures!”
― Alice Chetwynd Ley, The Guinea Stamp

“He had scarcely released it when the door opened, and the Honourable Cedric walked in, magnificently arrayed in a brocade dressing-gown of vivid and startling design. ‘What the deuce is the matter?’ he asked plaintively. ‘Never heard such an ungodly racket in my life! Ricky, dear old boy, you ain’t dressed ?’
‘Yes,’ sighed Sir Richard. ‘It is a great bore, however.’
‘But, my dear fellow, it ain’t nine o’clock!’ said Cedric in horrified tones. ‘Damme if I know what has come over you! You can’t start the day at this hour: it ain’t decent!’
‘I know, Ceddie, but when in Rome, one – er – is obliged to cultivate the habits of the Romans. Ah, allow me to present Major Daubenay – Mr Brandon!’
‘Servant, sir!’ snapped the Major, with the stiffest of bows.
‘Oh, how d’ye do?’ said Cedric vaguely. ‘Deuced queer hours you keep in the country!’
‘I am not here upon a visit of courtesy!’ said the Major.
‘Now, don’t tell me you’ve been quarrelling, Ricky!’ begged Cedric. ‘It sounded devilish like it to me. Really, dear boy, you might have remembered I was sleeping above you. Never at my best before noon, y’know. Besides, it ain’t like you!”
― Georgette Heyer, The Corinthian

“A wounded animal will bite and claw,” she said to Mrs. Ogilvy. “And it often cannot tell friend from foe. One mustn’t judge such a creature too harshly.”
― Mimi Matthews, The Work of Art

“My dear fellow, this is a war,” Ridgeway said. “It’s the London season.”
― Mimi Matthews, The Belle of Belgrave Square