The Interrupted Tale: Chapter 1

by Maryrose Wood
In Book 4 of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, governess Miss Penelope Lumley and the wolf-children Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia visit Miss Lumley's former school and find it in peril.

Here are the links to our lists for the book: Chapter 1, Chapters 2–3, Chapters 4–5, Chapters 6–7, Chapters 8–10, Chapters 11–12, Chapter 13–Epilogue
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. brisk
    quick and energetic
    Nothing unkind was meant by the brisk efficiency of these celebrations.
  2. ratio
    relation with respect to comparative quantity or magnitude
    As Agatha Swanburne herself once remarked, “So many cupcakes, so little time”—an unfortunate mathematical ratio that remains in effect to this very day.
  3. governess
    a woman who cares for and instructs a child in a household
    She had graduated more than a year earlier, and was now a professional governess in the grand house known as Ashton Place, currently the home of Lord Fredrick Ashton and his excitable young wife, Lady Constance.
  4. alma mater
    a school you graduated from
    Even so, on this particular autumn morning, Penelope found herself feeling rather homesick for her alma mater.
  5. momentous
    of very great significance
    Her drab, dark hair, her clear gray-green eyes, her brow that was prone to furrowing in deep concentration, especially when there was a mystery to be solved—all seemed unchanged by the momentous nature of the day.
  6. cordial
    politely warm and friendly
    She was on cordial terms with Mrs. Clarke, the head housekeeper, and was equally fond of Margaret, the good-hearted and squeaky-voiced housemaid.
  7. foolproof
    not liable to failure
    He was in the bathtub when it happened; coincidentally, his discovery had to do with how water in a bathtub rises when an ancient Greek scholar is bathing in it, and how measuring this “displaced” water would be a foolproof way to find the volume of said scholar, should anyone need to do that.
  8. unidentifiable
    impossible to recognize
    Then she buried her head under a pillow, from which some sort of unidentifiable, repetitive, smothered sound—weeping? sneezing? giggling?—could be heard.
  9. stoic
    seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive
    Penelope waited for some sort of reaction, for the children dearly loved biscuits, but three stoic faces avoided her gaze.
  10. dismay
    the feeling of despair in the face of obstacles
    Penelope could not hide her dismay.
  11. incite
    provoke or stir up
    Just as an excess of optimism (also known as optoomuchism) can cause one to act without considering what might go wrong, so can an excess of gloom incite one to recklessness.
  12. alas
    used to express sorrow, regret, compassion, or grief
    For if things truly cannot get any worse—and alas, this is rarely the case—why bother being careful?
  13. foolhardy
    marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences
    It was in just this sort of rash and foolhardy mood that Penelope decided not to go straight back to the nursery.
  14. piercing
    having or emitting a high-pitched tone or tones
    “It surely has, Miss Lumley. Just look on the mail tray,” the girl replied in her piercing mouse squeak of a voice.
  15. pang
    a mental pain or distress
    It looked like a party invitation, Penelope thought with a pang.
  16. keen
    intense or sharp
    PENELOPE’S RESOLVE TO THROW A party for the Incorrigibles was now twice as keen as before, even if it meant she would have to bake the cake herself.
  17. marzipan
    confection made of sugar, almond paste, and egg whites
    Mrs. Clarke lifted the cover off the tray to reveal a decorated cake, edged with marzipan flowers and iced with the words Happy 16th Birthday Miss P. Lumley.
  18. in vain
    without a successful result or effect
    That the wood looked suspiciously like the remains of a ruler Penelope had searched for in vain just the other day was a fact she chose to ignore.
  19. bashful
    self-consciously timid
    The girl sounded uncharacteristically bashful as she offered her gift.
  20. profound
    of the greatest intensity; complete
    Now, for a squirrel to sacrifice even a single acorn in autumn is a profound act of generosity, as Penelope well knew.
Created on Tue Nov 26 03:24:20 EST 2024 (updated Mon Jan 27 19:34:27 EST 2025)

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