Ah, what wonder one lapses into barbarism!
"In Wild Rose Time"
Amanda M. Douglas
Dr Bolter had come down to stay at the Rectory for a few days, and somehow-no one could tell the manner of its happening- the few days, with occasional lapses for business matters, had grown into a few weeks, and still there seemed no likelihood of his leaving.
"One Maid's Mischief"
George Manville Fenn
The conversation, supported mainly by Dahlia, fell into terrible lapses, and the attempts to start it again had the unhappy air of desperate remedies doomed to failure.
"The Wooden Horse"
Hugh Walpole