Temerity, noun
1. excessive confidence or boldness; audacity.
2. rash or restless act
2. rash or restless act
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/temerity
A Rose for EMily: Section II Paragraph 1, Page 2.
“After her father’s death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all. A few of the ladies had the temerity to call, but were not received, and the only sign of life about the place was the Negro man, a young man then – going in and out with a market basket”
The sentence before says that she went out little and that no one saw her. Some ladies had the confidence to call her even though no one else dared to, just asking her servant for information.
