You promised me once that, if ever the 'Chronicles ofDustypore' shaped themselves into being, they mightbe dedicated to you. While writing them my thoughtshave often turned to happy hours passed in yoursociety, and pleasant scenes witnessed beneath yourroof. If the story has profited thereby, and Feliciahas borrowed whatever charms she may possessfrom those remembered scenes and hours, forgiveme, and let me lay the portrait, with all its imperfections,at your feet.