Imaginary Heroines : autograph letter signed : New York, to the Editor of the New York Tribune, 1876 Oct. 14.

Answering remarks which appeared in the paper concerning the character of "Sheila" in "A Princess of Thule;" saying "It is true that I have on several occasions been introduced, when in the Highlands, to young ladies who as I afterwards learned, were regarded by their friends as having suggested the character in question; but there always seem to me to be some little difficulty about that, as I had not previously had the honour of the young ladies' acquaintance. There is less difficulty about this Princess of Thule who, as I see, has now been discovered and described by an amiable and ingenuous tourist; for I remember having at least seen and spoken to, before writing the book, the innkeeper and the innkeeper's two daughters who have been thus satisfactorily identified. To the best of my recollection, the innkeeper was a most worthy person - I regret that the tourist found him rather commonplace - who kept excellent wine; and his daughters displayed a skill and diligence in serving us with boiled salmon and potatoes which demanded and received our sincerest gratitude. That one of these homely but agreeable young people - the tourist does not explicitly say which - was afterwards to be represented in a book as a woman capable of producing some brief impression on London society by reason of her unusual beauty and dignity of manner was an idea that certainly did not occur at the moment either to myself or to my companions; but as we live we learn and I now accept the information with much meekness. In fact i support everybody who scribbles a bit of fiction has discovered how singularly keen and prompt is the discernment of his friends in ferreting out the unmistakeable [sic] originals of all his characters. In the present case I am heartily delighted to see that the discovery has been made to some profit. If it is a pity to find that the so-called "King of Borva" is after all only an innkeeper and indeed rather a commonplace innkeeper, still it is comforting to know that he is making money; and as for the marriage presents sent by enthusiastic persons in London to his daughter, I hope the young lady wore them on her wedding-day with becoming grace and modesty. One parting word, if you will allow me, to my friend the tourist. He ought not to use harsh language about any innkeeper, however taciturn or commonplace he may find him. A landlord may be pardoned for being occasionally reticent - as, for example, when he happens to encounter a guest who is somewhat over-inquisitive and perhaps also a trifle foolish."