NICE,
October 6, 1897.
... You complain that my heroes are gloomy--alas! that’s not my fault. This
happens apart from my will, and when I write it does not seem to me that I
am writing gloomily; in any case, as I work I am always in excellent
spirits. It has been observed that gloomy, melancholy people always write
cheerfully, while those who enjoy life put their depression into their
writings. And I am a man who enjoys life; the first thirty years of my life
I have lived as they say in pleasure and content....