Ruefulness [noun]

"Or than me either, I'm afraid," he added, with a ruefulness that was not ill-tempered.

Then she gave a tug to the child's coat, glancing at her up and down with some ruefulness.

Ellen said, "I think I understand," with a temptation to smile at the ruefulness of his appeal.

“I know,” said Eddy, simply, with a curious mixture of ruefulness and defiance.

"Perhaps against nobody," echoed Andr, with a boyish touch of ruefulness.

He had been too sanguine not to do it with some ruefulness after the first few months.

Earth gets its price for what earth gives us, she quoted, with a mixture of ruefulness and humor.

"Ah, yes; he has excellent common-sense," Lady Agatha echoed, with a ruefulness which made Mary laugh suddenly.

In the midst of his ruefulness the doctor, a capable-looking man of five and thirty, entered the room.