The Hand of Ethelberta

THE HAND OF ETHELBERTA -- A COMEDY IN CHAPTERS
by Thomas Hardy.

PREFACE
This somewhat frivolous narrative was produced as an interlude
between stories of a more sober design, and it was given the sub- title
of a comedy to indicate--though not quite accurately--the aim of the
performance. A high degree of probability was not attempted in the
arrangement of the incidents, and there was expected of the reader a
certain lightness of mood, which should inform him with a
good-natured willingness to accept the production in the spirit in which
it was offered. The characters themselves, however, were meant to be
consistent and human.
On its first appearance the novel suffered, perhaps deservedly, for what
was involved in these intentions--for its quality of unexpectedness in
particular--that unforgivable sin in the critic's sight--the immediate
precursor of 'Ethelberta' having been a purely rural tale. Moreover, in
its choice of medium, and line of perspective, it undertook a delicate
task: to excite interest in a drama--if such a dignified word may be used
in the connection-- wherein servants were as important as, or more
important than, their masters; wherein the drawing-room was sketched
in many cases from the point of view of the servants' hall. Such a
reversal of the social foreground has, perhaps, since grown more
welcome, and readers even of the finer crusted kind may now be
disposed to pardon a writer for presenting the sons and daughters of Mr.
and Mrs. Chickerel as beings who come within the scope of a congenial
regard. T. H.
December 1895.

CONTENTS

1. A STREET IN ANGLEBURY - A HEATH NEAR IT - INSIDE
THE 'RED LION' INN
2. CHRISTOPHER'S HOUSE - SANDBOURNE TOWN -
SANDBOURNE MOOR
3. SANDBOURNE MOOR (continued)
4. SANDBOURNE PIER - ROAD TO WYNDWAY - BALLROOM
IN WYNDWAY HOUSE
5. AT THE WINDOW - THE ROAD HOME
6. THE SHORE BY WYNDWAY
7. THE DINING-ROOM OF A TOWN HOUSE - THE BUTLER'S
PANTRY
8. CHRISTOPHER'S LODGINGS - THE GROUNDS ABOUT
ROOKINGTON
9. A LADY'S DRAWING-ROOMS - ETHELBERTA'S
DRESSING-ROOM
10. LADY PETHERWIN'S HOUSE
11. SANDBOURNE AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD - SOME
LONDON STREETS
12. ARROWTHORNE PARK AND LODGE
13. THE LODGE (continued) - THE COPSE BEHIND
14. A TURNPIKE ROAD
15. AN INNER ROOM AT THE LODGE

16. A LARGE PUBLIC HALL
17. ETHELBERTA'S HOUSE
18. NEAR SANDBOURNE - LONDON STREETS -
ETHELBERTA'S
19. ETHELBERTA'S DRAWING-ROOM
20. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF THE HALL - THE ROAD HOME
21. A STREET - NEIGH'S ROOMS - CHRISTOPHER'S ROOMS
22. ETHELBERTA'S HOUSE
23. ETHELBERTA'S HOUSE (continued)
24. ETHELBERTA'S HOUSE (continued) - THE BRITISH MUSEUM
25. THE ROYAL ACADEMY - THE FARNFIELD ESTATE
26. ETHELBERTA'S DRAWING-ROOM
27. MRS. BELMAINE'S - CRIPPLEGATE CHURCH
28. ETHELBERTA'S - MR. CHICKEREL'S ROOM
29. ETHELBERTA'S DRESSING-ROOM - MR. DONCASTLE'S
HOUSE
30. ON THE HOUSETOP
31. KNOLLSEA - A LOFTY DOWN - A RUINED CASTLE
32. A ROOM IN ENCKWORTH COURT
33. THE ENGLISH CHANNEL - NORMANDY
34. THE HOTEL BEAU SEJOUR, AND SPOTS NEAR IT

35. THE HOTEL (continued), AND THE QUAY IN FRONT
36. THE HOUSE IN TOWN
37. KNOLLSEA - AN ORNAMENTAL VILLA
38. ENCKWORTH COURT
39. KNOLLSEA - MELCHESTER
40. MELCHESTER (continued)
41. WORKSHOPS - AN INN - THE STREET
42. THE DONCASTLES' RESIDENCE, AND OUTSIDE THE SAME
43. THE RAILWAY - THE SEA - THE SHORE BEYOND
44. SANDBOURNE - A LONELY HEATH - THE 'RED LION' - THE
HIGHWAY
45. KNOLLSEA - THE ROAD THENCE - ENCKWORTH
46. ENCKWORTH (continued) - THE ANGLEBURY HIGHWAY
47. ENCKWORTH AND ITS PRECINCTS - MELCHESTER
SEQUEL. ANGLEBURY - ENCKWORTH - SANDBOURNE

The Hand of Ethelberta

1. A STREET IN ANGLEBURY - A HEATH NEAR IT - INSIDE
THE 'RED LION' INN
Young Mrs. Petherwin stepped from the door of an old and well-
appointed inn in a Wessex town to take a country walk. By her look

and carriage she appeared to belong to that gentle order of society
which has no worldly sorrow except when its jewellery gets stolen; but,
as a fact not generally known, her claim to distinction was rather one of
brains than of blood. She was the daughter of a gentleman who lived in
a large house not his own, and began life as a baby christened
Ethelberta after an infant of title who does not come into the story at all,
having merely furnished Ethelberta's mother with a subject of
contemplation. She became teacher in a school, was praised by
examiners, admired by gentlemen, not admired by gentlewomen, was
touched up with accomplishments by masters who were coaxed into
painstaking by her many graces, and, entering a mansion as governess
to the daughter thereof, was stealthily married by the son. He, a minor
like herself, died from a chill caught during the wedding tour, and a few
weeks later was followed into the grave