← Back

The Reticence of Lady Anne

Saki

First published 1910
Type Short Fiction
Length Short Story

"Egbert and his wife, the Lady Anne, are having tea, or attempting to, in the dimness of a late winter afternoon. I say 'attempting to' because Lady Anne is not touching her tea and in fact is not responding to any of Egbert's entreaties to heal the breach that he thinks a luncheon disagreement has brought about. He is conciliatory. He is apologetic. Finally, a thoroughly abashed Egbert fires a parting shot—'Aren't we being very silly?'—and marches off to dress for dinner and hope for a thaw. The cat seizes the opportunity to leap up on the bookshelf and harass the caged bullfinch but '...Lady Anne made no sign of interfering. She had been dead for two hours.'" (Jerome Shea)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
1910 Cover Reginald in Russia and Other Sketches Methuen Collection 7
September 1945 Cover A Saki Sampler Superior Reprint / The Military Service Publishing Co. Collection 4
March 1966 Cover Incredible Tales Dell Collection 49
August 1971 Incredible Tales Dell Laurel-Leaf Collection 49
1976 Cover The Complete Works of Saki Doubleday Omnibus 46
1978 Short Stories J. M. Dent Collection 85
1982 The Complete Saki Penguin Books Omnibus 46
1983 Cover The Best of Saki Picador Collection 15
1985 Short Stories J. M. Dent Collection 85
1993 Cover The Complete Stories of Saki Wordsworth Editions Omnibus 35
May 1998 Cover The Complete Saki Penguin Books Omnibus 46
August 1999 Reginald in Russia and Other Sketches Project Gutenberg Collection
October 2000 Cover Saki: The Complete Short Stories Penguin Books Collection 46