THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO
Reading edition
MY SON CYRIL,
AND TO
Mrs ALAN BATTEN
IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ALL THAT IT OWES
TO HER GENEROUS HELP AND INTEREST.
M. D.
AUTHOR'S NOTE.
In revising and partially rewriting my novel, 'Captain Desmond, V.C.,' I have been glad to make good the opportunity afforded me of bringing the Aftermath nearer to my original conception than it was in its first form. The three short chapters now substituted for the one final scene are therefore, in essence, no innovation. They represent more or less what I conceived at the time, but suppressed through fear of making my book too long; and thereby risked upsetting the balance of sympathy, which I hope the fresh chapters may tend to restore.
M. D.