Carroll was more than a little sorry for her, and also a bit rueful at his own plight.

Carefully dressed in the very worst of taste from his scarfpin to his boots, he had evidently just been too carefully shaved, for there were scratches on his wide, ludicrous face, and his smile was as rueful as a clown's.

The PIPER is abashed and rueful for the moment.

A chastened client of Mr. Fowler's once observed that a half-hour's encounter with him resulted in a rueful of asphyxiated topics.

Chantel, more rueful than either, stared down at a bleeding hand, which held two shards of steel.