Lewis Carroll,
The Blank Cheque
(1874)
“ De Ciel!' cried my old friend, clapping her hands. 'And that's the very thing we've done, isn't it, John?' ('The very thing we've done,' echoed John.) 'I made him do it only this morning. He has signed her a Blank Cheque, so that she can go to any cost she likes. It's such a comfort to get things settled and off one's hands, you know! ”
Lewis Carroll,
The Blank Cheque
(1874)
“ Hadn't we, John?' ('John' grunted in acquiescence.) 'It was Arthur took up his cause so much, and worried poor John and me nearly into our graves! Arthur was a very nice boy, Mr. De Ciel, and as great a favourite with the other boys as Harry is now, before he went to Westminster. He used to tell them stories, and draw them the prettiest pictures you ever saw! Houses that were all windows and chimnies—what they call "High Art," I believe. We tried a conservatory once on the High-Art principle, and (would you believe it?) the man stuck the roof up on a lot of rods like so many knitting-needles! ”
Lewis Carroll,
The Blank Cheque
(1874)
“ De Ciel,' the lady replied, a little testily. 'She's a very sensible young person, I can assure you. So now, wherever Susan chooses to take us, there we go!' ('There we go! There we go!' echoed her husband in a dismal sort of chant, rocking himself backwards and forwards in his chair.) 'You've no idea what a comfort it is to feel that the whole thing's in Susan's hands!' 'Go where Susan takes thee,' I remarked, with a vague idea that I was quoting an old song. 'Well, no doubt Susan has very correct taste, and all that—but still, if I might advise, I wouldn't leave all to her. ”
