Lucy Clifford.
Windlesham,
Crowborough,
Sussex.
Dear Sir,
Many thanks. I read the book with great interest. To say it is ever "obscene" is an abuse of words. That there are passages which are coarse, and unnecessarily coarse, is on the other hand indisputable. I should not like any woman under forty to read it. And yet it is not written for the purpose of being coarse, and that is the essential point.
Yours very truly,
A. Conan Doyle.
Max Gate,
Dorchester.