Absently

1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Phase the Fourth, Chapter 34, […] his wife, flinging a shawl round her, had come to the outer room and was listening to the man's narrative, her eyes resting absently on the luggage and the drops of rain glistening upon it.

When he is in company he will sit absently muttering over a heap of Arabick, or in a Ciceronian attitude, declaim with all the vehemency of eloquence […]

Absently, he picked a dew-wet leaf from the hibiscus shrub, crushed it in his palm, put it in his mouth and came towards her, chewing.

The ordeal is a world away from Kira now as she plays games on her new iPad while absently talking about downloading more apps to play music, and voicing her excitement over reuniting soon with her grandfather’s girlfriend.