When I saw the penny black missing from my collection in the shop window, I just went in and snapped it up.

In December 1643, a new troupe called the Illustre Théâtre moved into the jeu de paume of Les Métayers at No. 12 rue Mazarine (then Rue des Fossés de Nesle), where a plaque on the present-day building notes its stay.

[T]he plates of Queen's ware had not only been ill-used by being put upon the hob, by which they had lost some of their gadrooned-edges, but were of an unequal size, and the dishes were flat and therefore held little gravy.

The office manager is an unpleasantly obtrusive individual.