my dear sir,

although i have not the pleasure of your personal acquaintance, i venture to ask you to accept the dedication of this book, in slight acknowledgment of the admirable manner in which you have reproduced two of my previous stories (broken to harness and the forlorn hope) in the pages of the revue des deux mondes, and of the flattering way in which you have frequently referred to my writings in that excellent periodical.

faithfully yours,

edmund yates.

london, april 1868.