He caught the sound of her quavering voice as she spoke her thanks and wished him well on this earth; he heard her pant as she shuffled away from his door; then he thought no more of her except to regret that another sixpence had been so profitlessly expended.
"The Marvellous History of the Shadowless Man and The Cold Heart"
Adelbert von Chamisso Wilhelm Hauff
The work of busy bee at a window-pane had at any rate not spoilt her beauty, though she had voluntarily, profitlessly, become this man's drudge, and her sprightly fancy, her ready humour and darting look all round in discussion, were rather deadened.
"The Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith"
George Meredith
But if she had not been profitlessly plagued by masters, Cecilia Travers had been singularly favoured by her father's choice of a teacher: no great merit in him either.
"Kenelm Chillingly, Complete"
Edward Bulwer-Lytton