Wondering what the joke could be, and thinking it behoved me to find out, I complied with his request.
"A Crime of the Under-seas"
Guy Boothby
If her own parents seemed to place Ned's scruples before her interests, if Ned himself were so ignorant of what was due to his fiancee as to talk calmly of accepting the position of a clerk on a few hundreds a year, it behoved her to be firm, and make Ned understand that she would never be his wife until he could provide something more than the bare necessaries of life.
"A Houseful of Girls"
Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
And when I came back to Islington and found Dr. Abell still there, who I was told had left the parish, I was clear that it behoved me to use great discretion, for indeed I was afraid of the man, and it is certain I was no party to spreading any ill report of him.
"A Thin Ghost and Others"
M. R. (Montague Rhodes) James