The ostensible reason she gave was that neither Mr. nor Mrs. Hilbery should be disturbed.
"Night and Day"
Virginia Woolf
But it would have been a surprise, not only to other people but to Katharine herself, if some magic watch could have taken count of the moments spent in an entirely different occupation from her ostensible one.
"Night and Day"
Virginia Woolf
His ostensible pretext, for the relentless barbarity that ensued, was, that his horse was killed under him just as the flag was raised.
"A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion"
William Dobein James