Guess the quotation!

[elettaria]

Since Victorian lit is full of strange lines, I thought it would be fun to play a game where you have to post a line from a Victorian novel, and whoever guesses it correctly continues the game by posting another. To kick off:

"He sauntered lingeringly, fondling the spaniel in his bosom."

Comments

[sam_t]

I think I've read it, although no spaniels are leaping up and down in my memory. Wilkie Collins?

[elettaria]

Nope. Female author. The spaniel is not a big character.

[smellingbottle]

Is it Monsieur Paul playing tantalisingly with the school dog in Villette?

And I do realise this question was posed six months or more ago, but I just happened upon the community by chance.

[steamage]