He was wearing his best uniform - the white lapelled blue coat, white waistcoat, breeches and stockings of a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, with the silver medal of the Nile in his buttonhole - and the deep white cuff of his gold-buttoned sleeve beat the time, while his bright blue eyes, staring from what would have been a pink-and-white face if it had not been so deeply tanned, gazed fixedly at the bow of the first violin. The high note came, the pause, the resolution; and with the resolution the sailor's fist swept firmly down upon his knee. He leant back in his chair, extinguishing it entirely, sighed happily and turned towards his neighbor with a smile. The words "Very finely played, sir, I believe" were formed in his gullet if not quite in his mouth when he caught the cold and indeed inimical look and heard the whisper, "If you really must beat the measure, sir, let me entreat you to do so in time, and not half a beat ahead."
- From Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian
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