what does jekyll say about his youth in the letter to utterson?

Jekyll begins by claiming that at birth he was fortunate to have a large inheritance, health, and a hardworking nature. A strong idealist, Jekyll maintained social respect while keeping his more questionable vices secret. When he reached adulthood, Jekyll found that he was living two lives, one of the utmost respectability and social graces, and the other of hidden pleasures and dark underpinnings. THis lead to his study of splitting the two sides of him entirely.