[3] Under the pseudonym Faustine she wrote mainly social commentary pieces while under the name Mrs Julian Ashton she was known as a literary critic with a keen analysis.

News of the proposal prompted a wave of criticism in the press and accusations that Ashton was trying to promote concepts of "free love," "concubinage" and prostitution.

[10] Ashton's views were defended by her husband in a letter of 16 November, in which he expressed regret and astonishment of society's inability to debate the subject.

[11] On 25 November her own letter was published in The Daily Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald, in which she described the public response as a "storm of abuse and misrepresentation.

[16] On 26 April, writing under the name L. A. Ashton, she gave an account of a subsequent debate on the subject with Scott and Frank Cotton, a Labour politician.

Lady Jersey explained that she had felt forced to counter such publicly expressed views but had never heard anything negative about Ashton's personal character.