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CHAPTER VI.
FOIL AND COUNTERFOIL.
The Duties of Authorship,—Peter's Continued Perversity and its Unforeseen Results.—"Alfred."—The Tragic Note.—An Interrupted Crisis.—A Domestic Surprise.
It would be more satisfactory to an author's feelings, especially when he is aware that he will be held accountable by an indignant public for the slightest deviation on his hero's part from the narrow path of ideal rectitude—it would be more satisfactory to be able to record that this latest warning had a permanent effect upon Peter Tourmalin's rather shifty disposition.
But an author, even of a modest performance such as this, cannot but feel himself in a position of grave responsibility. He must relate such facts as he has been able to collect, without suppression on the one side, or distor-
