It was a small tortoise with Julia’s initials set....

“ It was a small tortoise with Julia’s initials set in diamonds in the living shell, and this slightly obscene object, now slipping impotently on the polished boards, now striding across the card-table, now lumbering over a rug, now withdrawn at a touch, now stretching its neck and swaying its withered, antediluvian head, became a memorable part of the evening, one of those needlehooks of experience which catch the attention when larger matters are at stake. ”

Evelyn Waugh

From : Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder