MAL MOULÉE.

A Novel.

BY

ELLA WHEELER WILCOX,

AUTHOR OF"POEMS OF PASSION," "MAURINE,"ETC., ETC.

NEW YORK:
COPYRIGHT, 1885, BY
G. W. Carleton & Co., Publishers.
LONDON: S. LOW, SON & CO.
MDCCCLXXXVI.

       Stereotyped byHENRY M. TOBITT, 
  SAMUEL STODDER,PRINTER,         
42 DEY STREET, N. Y.42 DEY STREET, N. Y.

PREFACE.

It is more than two years since the outline ofthis simple story first suggested itself to me, andsince the first chapters were written.

Many times since then, conscious that I possessedno talent as a novelist, I have resolved toabandon the work. Yet an unaccountable andmysterious impulse (which no doubt my severecritics will declare as unfortunate, as unaccountable)compelled me to complete it.

I have attempted no fine descriptions, no rareword-painting, no flights of eloquence. Thesethings lie not within my province. As simply andbriefly as possible, I have endeavored to relate suchevents as occur almost daily in our midst.

In Percy Durand, I have described, and possibly,[8]somewhat idealized, a type of man to be foundin any of the cities of America.

In Dolores King, the unfortunate and undesiredoffspring of a loveless marriage fletrie avant sanaissance.

In Helena Maxon, my ideal of

In my selection of a title, I could find no suitableEnglish term which would express the meaningI wished to convey in unison with the leadingidea in the book. Therefore, I was obliged, notwithout reluctance, to use a French term.

To avoid many personal inquiries, I wouldsay, in the beginning, that while I have knownnearly all the experiences herein related to occur,in actual life, I do not, at the present time, knowof any person or persons who answer to the charactersI have created.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
Meriden, Ct., December, 1885.

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CONTENTS.