Quotation from: The Secret Agent

Written by: Joseph Conrad

This appeal to manly protection was received by Stevie with his usual
docility. It flattered him. He raised his head and threw out his chest.

"Don't be nervous, Winnie. Mustn't be nervous! 'Bus all right," he
answered in a brusque, slurring stammer partaking of the timorousness of
a child and the resolution of a man. He advanced fearlessly with the
woman on his arm, but his lower lip dropped. Nevertheless, on the
pavement of the squalid and wide thoroughfare, whose poverty in all the
amenities of life stood foolishly exposed by a mad profusion of
gas-lights, their resemblance to each other was so pronounced as to
strike the casual passers-by.