Of the country poor, at a somewhat - George Gissing

It is our duty never to speak ill of others, you know; least of all when we know that to do so will be the cause of much pain and trouble.

In this humor [bantering/flirtatious] she [Rhoda Nunn] seemed more than ever a challenge to his manhood. She was armed at all points. She feared nothing that he might say. No flush of apprehension; no nervous tremor; no weak self-consciousness. Yet he saw her as a woman, and desirable.

Refuge from despair is often found in the passion of self-pity and that spirit of obstinate resistance which it engenders.