"Hear me, and be assured that I speak in earnest. If you, and I mean all of you, do not come to the services tomorrow morning, and instruct your men to do likewise, then I shall leave you." (webcorp)
Well, to speak in earnest I cannot decide whether to blame marriage or age, but the fact is that I have grown a lot lazier. (webcorp)
After the waitress brought our coffee we began to speak in earnest. (webcorp)