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"She slipped on her knees, andburst into a passionate fit of weeping."Vain Fortune
A Novel
By
George Moore
With Five Illustrations By Maurice Greiffenhagen
NewEdition
Completely Revised
London: Walter Scott, Ltd.
Paternoster Square
1895
Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable, Printersto Her Majesty
Prefatory Note
I hope it will not seem presumptuous toask my critics to treat this new edition of Vain Fortune as a newbook: for it is a new book. The first edition was kindly noticed, but itattracted little attention, and very rightly, for the story as told thereinwas thin and insipid; and when Messrs. Scribner proposed to print the bookin America, I stipulated that I should be allowed to rewrite it. Theyconsented, and I began the story with Emily Watson, making her theprincipal character instead of Hubert Price. Some months after I received aletter from Madam Couperus, offering to translate the English edition intoDutch. I sent her the American edition, and asked her which she wouldprefer to translate from. Madam Couperus replied that many things in theEnglish edition, which she would like to retain, had been omitted from theAmerican edition, that the hundred or more pages which Ihad written for the American edition seemed to her equally worthy ofretention.
She pointed out that, without the alteration of a sentence, the twoversions could be combined. The idea had not occurred to me; I saw,however, that what she proposed was not only feasible but advantageous. Iwrote, therefore, giving her the required permission, and thanking her fora suggestion which I should avail myself of when the time came for a newEnglish edition.
The union of the texts was no doubt accomplished by Madam Couperus,without the alteration of a sentence; but no such accomplished editing ispossible to me; I am a victim to the disease of rewriting, and theinclusion of the hundred or more pages of new matter written for theAmerican edition led me into a third revision of the story. But no morethan in the second has the skeleton, or the attitude of the skeleton beenaltered in this third version, only flesh and muscle have been added, and,I think, a little life. Vain Fortune, even in its present form, isprobably not my best book, but it certainly is far frombeing my worst. But my opinion regarding my own work is of no value; I donot write this Prefatory Note to express it, but to ask my critics and myreaders to forget the original Vain Fortune, and to read this newbook as if it were issued under another title.
G.M.
I
The lamp had not been wiped, and theroom smelt slightly of paraffin. The old window-curtains, whose harsh greenage had not softened, were drawn. The mahogany sideboard, the threadbarecarpe