er to my
freedom. And as to the indiscretions--well, to speak it in all modesty and
with a becoming consciousness of human frailty, I think that the undoubted
indiscretions--that I may use no harder term--which were committed in the
course of a certain fortnight were not for the most part of my doing or
contriving. For throughout the transactions which followed on my arrival
in France, I was rather the sport of circumstances than the originator of
any scheme; and the prominent part which I played was forced upon me, at
first by whimsical chance, and later on by the imperious calls made upon
me by the position into which I was thrust.

The same reason that absolves me from the need of excuse deprives me of
the claim to praise; and, looking back, I am content to find nothing of
which I need seriously be ashamed, and glad to acknowledge that, although
Fate chose to put me through some queer paces, she was not in the end
malevolent, and that, now the whole thing is finished, I have no cause to
complain of the ultimate outcome of it. In saying that, I speak purely and
solely for myself. There is one other for whom I might perhaps venture to
say the same without undue presumption, but I will not; while for the
rest, it must suffice for me to record their fortunes, without entering on
the deep and grave questions which are apt to suggest themselves to anyone
who considers with a thoughtful mind the characters and the lives of those
with whom he is brought in contact on his way through the world. The good
in wicked folk, the depths in shallow folk, the designs of haphazard
minds, the impulsive follies of the cunning--all these exist, to be dimly
discerned by any one of us, to be ignored by none save those who are
content to label a man with the name of one quality and ignore all else in
him, but to be traced, fully understood, and intelligently shown forth
only by the few who are gifted to read and expound the secrets of human
hearts. That is a gift beyond my endowment, and fitted for a task too
difficult for my hand. Frankly, I did not, always and throughout, discern
as clearly as I could desire the springs on which the conduct of my
fellow-actors turned; and the account I have given of their feelings and
their motives must be accepted merely as my reading of them, and for what,
as such, it is worth. The actual facts speak for themselves. Let each man
read them as he will; and if he does not indorse all my views, yet he
will, I