I have not asked your leave, dear friend, to dedicate to you these pages
of my experience in the heart of an Asiatic court; but I know you will
indulge me when I tell you that my single object in inscribing your name
here is to evince my grateful appreciation of the kindness that led you
to urge me to try the resources of your country instead of returning to
Siam, and to plead so tenderly in behalf of my children.
I wish the offering were more worthy of your acceptance. But to
associate your name with the work your cordial sympathy has fostered,
and thus pleasantly to retrace even the saddest of my recollections,
amid the happiness that now surrounds me,--a happiness I owe to the
generous friendship of noble-hearted American women,--is indeed a
privilege and a compensation.