But to bespeak of a love, heavily weighed upon a heart, toward someone opposing those sentiments encourages foolish and embarrassing repercussions he will never know about.
concluding, naturally, that to gratify his avarice was to bespeak his favour
1859, Charles Dickens, The Haunted House
I walked on into the village, with the desertion of this house upon my mind, and I found the landlord of the little inn, sanding his door-step. I bespoke breakfast, and broached the subject of the house.
This new-comer was a man who in any company would have seemed striking.[…]He was smooth-faced, and his fresh skin and well-developed figure bespoke the man in good physical condition through active exercise, yet well content with the world's apportionment.
1921, Printers' Ink, Volume 114, Page 50:
Are they telling your story vividly, strikingly, in designs that command attention, in colors that bespeak distinction?
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing. (See the entry for bespeak in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)
