rned out to be--a woman--a literary woman, too, fighting a hard fight
herself, who would have had an excuse to 'slate' me as an unrequired
rival in literature had she so chosen, but who, instead of this easy
course, adopted the more difficult path of justice and unselfishness.

[Illustration: THE LIBRARY]

After the 'Romance of Two Worlds' I wrote 'Vendetta;' then followed
'Thelma,' and then 'Ardath: The Story of a Dead Self,' which, among
other purely personal rewards, brought me a charming autograph letter
from the late Lord Tennyson, full of valuable encouragement. Then
followed 'Wormwood: A Drama of Paris'--now in its fifth edition;
'Ardath' and 'Thelma' being in their seventh editions. My publishers
seldom advertise the number of my editions, which is, I suppose, the
reason why the continuous 'run' of the books escapes the Press comment
of the 'great success' supposed to attend various other novels which
only attain to third or fourth editions. 'The Soul of Lilith,' published
only last year, ran through four editions in three-volume form; it is
issued now in one volume by Messrs. Bentley, to whom, however, I have
not offered any new work. A change of publishers is sometimes advisable;
but I have a sincere personal liking for Mr. George Bentley, who is
himself an author of distinct originality and ability, though his
literary gifts are only known to his own private circle. His book of
essays, entitled 'After Business,' is a delightful volume, full of point
and brilliancy, two specially admirable papers being those on Villon and
Carlyle, while it would be difficult to discover a more 'taking' prose
bit than the concluding chapter, 'Under an Old Poplar.'

[Illustration: THE STUDY]

A very foolish and erroneous rumour has of late been circulated
concerning me, asserting that I owe a great measure of my literary
success to the kindly recognition and interest of the Queen. I take the
present opportunity to clear up this perverse misunderstanding. My books
have been running successfully through several editions for six years,
and the much-commented-upon presentation of a complete set of them to
Her Majesty took place only last year. If it were possible to regret the
honour of the Queen's acceptance of these volumes, I should certainly
have cause to do so, as the extraordinary spite and malice that has
since been poured on my unoffending head has shown me a very bad side of
human nature, which I am sorry to have seen. T