Henry James (1843–1916) was an American author regarded as a key transitional fi gure between literary realism and literary
modernism. George Flack, the main character of this great story, is the Paris correspondent for an American scandal sheet called The Reverberator. Francie Dosson, a pretty but not always tactful American girl, confi des to Flack some gossip about the Proberts, the Frenchifi ed family of her fi ance, Gaston Probert. James deplored the media, about a match that may be ruined by a gossip column.