September 1, 1872.

I am horror-stricken at what I have done! When I began this correspondence I had no other purpose than to relieve the tedium of your sick-chamber. Dillon told me to cheer you up. I tried to. I thought that you entered into the spirit of the thing. I had no idea, until within a few days, that you were taking matters au grand serieux.

What can I say? I am in sackcloth and ashes. I am a pariah, a dog of an outcast. I tried to make a little romance to interest you, something soothing and idyllic, and, by Jove! I have done it only too well! My father doesn't know a word of this, so don't jar the old gentleman any more than you can help. I fly from the wrath to come—when you arrive! For oh, dear Jack, there isn't any piazza, there isn't any hammock—there isn't any Marjorie Daw!

Majorie Daw is a short story first published in 1869. The story, which is written entirely as a series of letters between two friends, concerns the invention of an imaginary young woman, Marjorie Daw.

Thomas Bailey Aldrich(1836–1907) was an American poet, novelist, travel writer and editor whose use of the surprise ending influenced the development of the short story.