1  She had excused herself from the walk on the plea of a headache: the horrid headache which, in the morning, had prevented her venturing to church.
2  Mrs. Trenor brushed aside the plea with a gesture which laid bare its weakness.
3  Upon the same plea, he told me to bring my tools and clothing home forthwith.
4  Mr. Pumblechook and Mr. Hubble declined, on the plea of a pipe and ladies' society; but Mr. Wopsle said he would go, if Joe would.
5  After a time he would give up once more, on the plea that he had not got Cobbs's bill, or Lobbs's, or Nobbs's, as the case might be.
6  Meanwhile, plea after plea had been presented to the legal authorities, and daily were relatives whom no one had before heard of putting in an appearance.
7  Mr. Klyucharev has been treated in the same way, and so have others who on the plea of building up the temple of Solomon have tried to destroy the temple of their fatherland.
8  However, the man's examination and the depositions of the witnesses had been completed, but the lawyer's plea, and the speech of the public prosecutor were still to come; it could not be finished before midnight.
Les Misérables 1 By Victor HugoContext  Highlight   In BOOK 7: CHAPTER VII—THE TRAVELLER ON HIS ARRIVAL TAKES PRECAUTION... 9  At the moment of this entrance, the defendant's lawyer had just finished his plea.
Les Misérables 1 By Victor HugoContext  Highlight   In BOOK 7: CHAPTER IX—A PLACE WHERE CONVICTIONS ARE IN PROCESS OF FO... 10  Villefort immediately rose from table and quitted the room upon the plea of urgent business; he soon, however, returned, his whole face beaming with delight.
The Count of Monte Cristo By Alexandre DumasContext  Highlight   In Chapter 6. The Deputy Procureur du Roi. 11  We excused her, to a certain extent, on the plea of ill-health: she was dwindling and fading before our eyes.
12  Venn declined, on the plea of it being too early, and stated that his business was with Miss Vye.
Return of the Native By Thomas HardyContext  Highlight   In BOOK 1: 10 A Desperate Attempt at Persuasion 13  The officials of the Exposition were anxious that I should assume this responsibility, but I declined to do so, on the plea that the work at Tuskegee at that time demanded my time and strength.
Up From Slavery: An Autobiography By Booker T. WashingtonContext  Highlight   In Chapter XIII.  14  They were trying vainly by whispered pleas and jerks at her skirt to make the old lady sit down on the brick wall.