If everything about me were known, I am quite aware the greater number of people would insist that I must be by nature an evil man.
The thought of which amuses me, as in these latter years I appear to so conform to all the generally accepted ideas of solid British respectability.
At only thirty-five I am a well-to-do landowner, the squire of our village and the youngest Justice of the Peace in my country. I open Flower Shows, I give away prizes at the local sports and I am on the Boards of Management of several public institutions. Also, coming of good stock—my father was the grandson of an earl—I am held to be a worthy example of that class which in Britain's glorious history has done so much to win for her her world-wide greatness.