There is no plot; some of what should be the most important characters are merely heard of, not seen; and the various scenes have no sort of connection, except that the same persons figure in them.

But these undeniable facts do not interfere with two other facts, equally undeniable and much more important.

The first is that the papers could be turned into a novel with hardly any important alteration, and with only _quantum suff._ of addition and completion.

"The widow" is there in the background ready to be produced and made a heroine; many of the incidents are told novel-fashion already, and more could be translated into that fashion by the veriest tyro at novel writing who has written at any time during the last one hundred and fifty years.

The personages of the club have merely to step down and out; the scenes to be connected, amplified, and multiplied; the conversation to undergo the same process.
But the second point is of greater importance still.