Stone of Chastity

"It''s in my mind to put an end to this heathen wickedness that''s stalking abroad through Gillenham. It''s in my mind to terrify that evil man from his morrow''s sinful doings."

"We''ll be going to Old Manor, then?"

"Not yet," said Mrs. Pye grimly. "We go first to the village. To rouse the women . . ."

Professor Pounce arrives in the idyllic village of Gillenham, along with his sister-in-law, his nephew Nicholas, and Carmen, his voluptuous assistant, in single-minded pursuit of the Stone of Chastity, a stepping stone in the local stream reputed to trip up impure women. His interest is cold-bloodedly scientific, but his researches, including putting the village women to the test and documenting the results, are taken rather more personally by some, including the Vicar''s wife, who enlists the Boy Scouts to help suppress his efforts, and stern Mrs. Pye, possessed with the soul of an inquisitor. Ultimately, it''s young Nicholas who must try to assuage the villagers'' outrage, all the while coping with the repercussions of his own amorous impulses.

The Stone of Chastity, first published in 1940 and inexplicably out of print for decades, is perhaps the deftest (and daftest) of Margery Sharp''s many dazzling, witty social comedies.

''Miss Margery Sharp''s witticisms lift the otherwise flat and unprofitable life of the village of Gillenham to the level of a bubbling champagne-glass full of laughter'' New York Times