The chicken was tough, the tongue too salty, and the chocolate wouldn't froth properly.

Then the cake and ice cost more than Amy expected, so did the wagon, and various other expenses, which seemed trifling at the outset, counted up rather alarmingly afterward.
Beth got a cold and took to her bed.

Meg had an unusual number of callers to keep her at home, and Jo was in such a divided state of mind that her breakages, accidents, and mistakes were uncommonly numerous, serious, and trying.
If it was not fair on Monday, the young ladies were to come on Tuesday, an arrangement which aggravated Jo and Hannah to the last degree.

On Monday morning the weather was in that undecided state which is more exasperating than a steady pour.

It drizzled a little, shone a little, blew a little, and didn't make up its mind till it was too late for anyone else to make up theirs.