Thanks for playing along – do keep your sentences coming! Just thought I’d let you know the answers – and point out my bit of trickery, which nobody spotted!
1.) is a rather lovely sentence from The Diaries of Sylvia Townsend Warner.
2.) is in fact not Emma, but Mrs. Elton in America by Diana Birchall. Sneaky, no?
3.) was correctly identified by several people as The Bible.
Ah, I had a funny feeling it was a trick – somehow it didn't ring quite true – not quite Jane.
Did you get as far as Sylvia Townsend Warner's house when you were in the area?
I wondered at you giving us something so easy on #2, it didn't occur to me that you might be being sneaky! :)
I wondered about number 2, Emma seemed too obvious.
My offering was from Listening Valley by D E Stevenson.
But that is devilishly sneaky! It's a direct quote from Austen's novel… but, realizing that there was evidence on your blog for the actual book, I am surprised that no one guessed it.
PS – mine was from Persuasion =)