Of High Degree. By Charles Gibbon. 3 vols. (Matto and
Windus.)—This is a remarkably well-constructed story. Few readers, we imagine, will be altogether satisfied with the conclusion of Mr. Gibbon's narrative; but none will deny that it is reached by a very ingenious process. The opening scene introduces us to the two characters whom we must recognise, we suppose, as the hero and heroine of the story,'though they are not the most interesting of Mr. Gibbon's dramatis personce. Rath Clark bids farewell to Stephen Meredith. He loves her, and she loves him ; but he is embarrassed and she is penniless, and she thinks it well that they should part. The story tells us how her purpose is accomplished, and how also she does not miss her own happiness in the end. It is in this last
point that we find the weak places of the story. Ruth finds a wealthy husband, but we cannot see that she finds more. We cannot but feel, too, that Stephen is badly treated. Why should he be made prosperous against his will, if he preferred love and poverty. For all this, the story is excellently well told, and Dahlia Whitcombe, the young woman to whom the unlucky lover is handed over, with her blind, jealous love, is a finely-drawn character. So is the in- triguing Rapier, the clever schemer, whose elaborate plans we are delighted to find foiled by the energy and vigilance of more honest folk. The third volume, with its rapid action, intricate, without being confused, and carrying on the reader in absorbed interest, does the greatest credit to Mr. Gibbon's ability as a writer of fiction.
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