ABSTRACT
James Gibson [Macmillan] liked to talk about Hardy, who had been present at his wedding in 1920, and his favourite story, frequently repeated, concerned his uncle, Sir Frederick.1 He and Hardy were present at some social function in London when a lady came up to Hardy and said, ‘Do tell me, Mr Hardy, what did Tess mean to you?’ After a pause Hardy replied, ‘Well I don’t know what she meant to you, Sir Frederick, but to me she’s been a very good milch-cow’. The lady retired probably thinking that Hardy was no more than an insensitive businessman. I doubt whether she would have realised that the question she asked was so naive as to be bound to put Hardy on the defensive and to result in a reply in which humour concealed deep feelings (p. 10).
