10. LADY PETHERWIN'S HOUSE


The next day old Lady Petherwin, who had not accompanied Ethelberta the
night before, came into the morning-room, with a newspaper in her hand.

'What does this mean, Ethelberta?' she inquired in tones from which every
shade of human expressiveness was extracted by some awful and imminent
mood that lay behind. She was pointing to a paragraph under the heading
of 'Literary Notes,' which contained in a few words the announcement of
Ethelberta's authorship that had more circumstantially appeared in the
Wessex Reflector.

'It means what it says,' said Ethelberta quietly.

'Then it is true?'

'Yes. I must apologize for having kept it such a secret from you. It
was not done in the spirit that you may imagine: it was merely to avoid
disturbing your mind that I did it so privately.'

'But surely you have not written every one of those ribald verses?'

Ethelberta looked inclined to exclaim most vehemently against this; but
what she actually did say was, '"Ribald"--what do you mean by that? I
don't think that you are aware what "ribald" means.'

'I am not sure that I am. As regards some words as well as some persons,
the less you are acquainted with them the more it is to your credit.'