One of the motifs that appears again and again in Henry James' work is the often-fraught relationship between the artist and the audience. In the tale "Greville Fane," a journalist assigned the task of writing an obituary for a popular female novelist delves into the woman's family life and discovers some unsavory secrets.Coming in to dress for dinner, I found a telegram: "Mrs. Stormer dying; can you give us half a column for to-morrow evening? Let her off easy, but not too easy." I was late; I was in a hurry; I had very little time to think, but at a venture I dispatched a reply: "Will do what I can." It was not till I had dressed and was rolling away to dinner that, in the hansom, I bethought myself of the difficulty of the condition attached.