half-tender

That evening she had a further talk with the landlady, who might herself have nourished a half-tender regard for the poet, so ready was she to discourse ardently about him.

Wessex Tales 2006

Then, turning to Sanin, she began telling him in a half-joking, half-tender tone what a splendid mother she had, and what a beauty she had been.

The Torrents of Spring 2006

Vital comfort it seemed to me then: I read them in after years; they were kind letters enough — pleasing letters, because composed by one well pleased; in the two last there were three or four closing lines half-gay, half-tender, “by feeling touched, but not subdued.”

Villette 2003

Then a queer little smile, half-bitter, half-tender, curving his lips, he added: "I shall always have this one day for which to thank whatever gods there be."

The Hermit of Far End Margaret Pedler

He seemed instinctively to recognize her moods, adapting himself accordingly, and in his thought and care for her there was a half-playful, half-tender element of possessiveness that sometimes brought a smile to her lips -- and sometimes a sigh, as the inevitable comparison asserted itself between Tim's gentle ruling and the brusque, forceful mastery that had been Garth's.

The Hermit of Far End Margaret Pedler

But though her phraseology might be childish there was something purely womanly in the compassion with which she thought of Anstice; and on one occasion when a fit of melancholy had overcome him unexpectedly in her presence, he was startled, not to say dismayed, to notice something of this half-tender, half-impersonal pity in the soft, brooding glance of her eyes as they rested on him for a moment.

Afterwards Kathlyn Rhodes

Happy would some friend near him be to hear the half-tender, half-witty, yet most appreciative conceit which should first come stammering from his lips.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 03, No. 17, March, 1859 Various

"It is -- just like me," she responded, a tone of half-tender mockery in her voice.

The Hermit of Far End Margaret Pedler

"Do you always choose such an early hour as this for your daily rambles?" he asked, studying with a half-tender scrutiny the irregular, sensitive face before him.

Lippincott's Magazine, November 1885 Various

He stood for a moment gazing into vacancy with a half-tender, half-cynical smile on his lips.

The Making of a Soul Kathlyn Rhodes