Once or twice Irene dropped her impersonal smile to tax Vibart with not caring whether she went or not; and Mrs. Carstyle seized a moment of Tete-a-Tete to confide in him that the dear child hated the idea of leaving, and was going only because her friend Mrs. Higby would not let her off.
"The Greater Inclination"
Edith Wharton
"Oh no, you could not, Mr Harley," continued the little lady, "because you see I have come to interrupt your Tete-a-Tete.
"One Maid's Mischief"
George Manville Fenn
A more general mingling of the occupants of the drawing-room put an end to the various Tete-a-Tetes, and Grey Stuart's present anxiety was somewhat abated; but she did not feel any the more at rest upon seeing that the young rajah had softly approached Hilton, and was smiling at him in an innocently bland way, bending towards him as he spoke, and keeping very close to his side for the rest of the evening.
"One Maid's Mischief"
George Manville Fenn