Excerpt from Julian Karslakes Secret a Novel, Vol. 1 of 3 'You do not seem so much impressed by the extracts I have read as I expected,' he said, 'but then you are scarcely qualified to be a competent critic - you will at least undertake my commission?' 'I will undertake it, of course, only I wash my hands of all responsibility as regards success or failure. You will be wise to expect the latter.' He rose as he spoke, pulling up the collar of his coat and shivering with intention. 'You have let the fire down with a vengeance, Dorrimore, oblivious of vulgar sensations in your intellectual zeal; and yet if ever a cheerful blaze were wanted it is in such a den as this. I never come here but I wonder how life sustains itself under such conditions.' About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.