"Backstair" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... little nourishment, as The Seraph put it, we retired to Mary Ellen's room; she leading the way up the dark backstairs with a lighted candle; Granfa next bearing his little bundle; and we three in the rear, exceedingly tired, but in ...
— Explorers of the Dawn • Mazo de la Roche
... carried out in all the details of the administration, with a view to avoiding the scandals now of frequent occurrence, when an obstinate or bigoted official sets at defiance the liberal initiations of the Government, trusting to backstairs influence". ...
— The English Constitution • Walter Bagehot
... mother's demand if they had stayed to wash the dishes, Hen replied that they thought they might just as well: there weren't many, and the water was nice and hot. And Chas, hearing the clatter from aloft, had slipped down the backstairs in his suspenders, and lent a hand with the wiping. Mrs. Cooney chided, saying the dishes should have been left for Hortense, to-morrow morning before breakfast. She asked Hen whether Chas knew that his white vest had come in with the wash, and though Hen was pretty sure he did, Aunt Molly ...
— V. V.'s Eyes • Henry Sydnor Harrison
... everyone was talking. Backstairs gossip and court scandals were passed around. People were wondering who would sit there, and who would sit there. Later arrivals were pushing at one another ...
— Walter Pieterse - A Story of Holland • Multatuli
... intrigue disgusting. No, I don't blame you. You came into the middle of it, and were doubtless forced to take the part you did. But I'll have no lot or hold in it. If I am to understand that I gain the Pybus appointment only through a lot of backstairs intrigue and cabal, I'll let it be known at once that I would not accept that living though it were offered ...
— The Cathedral • Hugh Walpole |
