"Don't you think she was one of the most interesting queens in English history — Queen Anne? Do you remember the anecdote — — ?
But she checked him, frightened again:
"I do not wish to hear it, Mr. Finch," she said.
"But," said Fothergil, "She was a most unexceptional
Queen — not like, er — not like — well,
Cleopatra, you know, or any of those bad ones."
Hermione's mother was silent, but it was apparent that she feared the talk was about to veer toward Cleopatra.
"When I was a girl," she said, "the lives of queens were considered rather dangerous reading for young women. You need not go into details, please."
I couldn't stand it any more myself. "If you'll just tell Hermione I called," I said, edging toward the door. Fothergil, however, stuck it out. In the frenzy of embarrassment he must have lost his head completely. For as I left I heard him be- ginning:
"Did you read the story in the papers today of the man who killed his wife? Crimes of passion are becoming more and more frequent. . . ."
PRISON REFORM AND POISE
AREN'T you just crazy about prison reform?