NOVELS OF THE WEEK.*
UNDER the pseudonym of "E. and H. Heron," the joint authors of A Modern Mercenary have already laid magazine readers under frequent obligation by their spirited tales of adventure. What lends their work its peculiar merit, how- ever, is the underlying note of disinterested patriotiom. Their heroes are not of the stamp of Lieutenant Hob- son, nor are they, again, the men who are mentioned in de- spatches or come within the ken of the war correspondents they are rolling stones, wastrels, nameless pioneers who yet, when confronted by some supreme occasion, cheerfully and silently illustrate Mr. Kipling's lines :— " Never the lotus closes, never the wild-fowl wake, But a soul goes out on the West-wind that died for England's sake."
In the volume before us the venue is changed from the field of Imperial endeavour to that of fantastic romance. Some critics will be sure to say that but for Mr. Anthony Hope A Modern Mercenary would never have been written, and the Messrs. Prichard would probably be the first to admit their general indebtedness to the mice-en-scene rendered popular by the gallant chronicler of Zenda. The mixture of medievalism and modernity, the laying of the scene in an imaginary kingdom somewhere in Germany,. the ascription of the role of hero to an English adventurer,—these are features of resemblance which cannot be gainsaid, but on which it would be easy to dwell with undue insistence. For though the formula may not be original, the plot is fresh, the intrigue ingenious, the portraiture vivid, and the treatment un- hackneyed. As for the mainspring of the plot, that is pro- vided by the conflict of duty and race instinct arising in the mind of an English soldier of fortune who has taken service with a weak foreign Power threatened with absorption by her Continental neighbours, and finds himself suddenly obliged to choose between disloyalty to his masters and treachery to the emissary of his native land. Choosing the former alter- native, he finds himself unable to vindicate his honour with- out imperilling the position of the Minister whose daughter returns his love, and to shield her father undergoes the ordeal of a Court-Martial in which he is condemned to be _shot. From this desperate plight he is rescued by the timely mendacity of the Grand Duke and the sensational collapse of the intrigue organised by his cousin and heir. The frank and unscrupulous savagery of the latter, a regular nineteenth- • (1.) A Modern Mercenary. By E. and.Heaketh Prichar.l. London: Smith, Elder, and Co. ids.]—(`L.) A Duet with an Occasional Chorus. By A. Cnnvn Doyle. London, Grant Richards. [6x.1—(5.1 A Double Thread. By ..11.11en itornycroft Fowler. London Hutchinson and Co. [Cis 1—(4.) The Confounding of Comaia. By Anne D. Sediewick. London : W. Heinemann. [tis.]—(5.) The Miracles of Antichrist. Translated from the 8w-dish of Selma Lageriof by Panle.e Bancroft Finch. Loodln : Gay and Bird. [13e.1—(64 The Golden Sceptre. By Gerald H. Thornhill.. London 0. A. Pearson. 164.3—(7.) Wicked Rosamond. By Mins t4nodemao. London: John Long. [6x.]- (8.) C.cotg Vaugha4. Br Philip Devenant. London: John Long. res.1-00 A Weaeer of Rouse. By W. Dutton. Burrard. London John Long. (811.1--• (104 Gwen Penri : a Welsh Idyll. John Button. London : Elliot Stock (kJ century. Borgia;, the divergent diplomatic methods employed by the repreientatives.ot klInesia, Germany, and England ; and the self-effacing cciiiVitli-fat de hero, are illustrated in a succession of thrilling tableaux, culminating in the attempted murder of. the Grand Duke. Altogether this is a fierce and vivid romance, in which the weakest point is the nomenclature of the dramatis personm.
Dr. Conan Doyle's new book, A Duet with an Occasional Chorus, not only marks, a , striking divergence from any of his' previous works, but it ventures practically on loca nullius ante ,trita solo, at least in the domain of fiction.. His narrative beginiCwIere most others end, the hero and .heroine making their, debut as an engaged couple within a very few weeks of their marriage, and the great part of the book is devoted to their experiences in the first year of their married life, the " first subject" of the finale, so to speak, being the first-baby.- It-must-be-explained-that this-is no tale of high or-low life., Frank Crosse is a young clerk in an in- surance office with an income of rather under £500 a year, who brings his bride home to a suburban villa rented at 250 per annum. Again, though a man "with a past," the author is careful to let it be known that the past is aver and done with. We are assured that be had an artistic soul, but, whatever- his latent capacities for romance, we should prefer to describe him as a favourable type of young City man, . whose'' chief 'title to fame was that be had been asked to play. for the Surrey Second Eleven- Frank's betrothed, *fish slightly his superior- in ilocial statian, is equally, unromantic and conventional,—just a nice honest English girl without any special charm save that of innocence. Here we have im effect a pair of inoffensive, ordinary middle-class people such, as 1[7. George Gissing would, contrive to pilot_ into the slough of despond. Dr. Conan Doyle, howeveri though his method in this instance is eminently realistic-Ahus Frank in one letter writes before his marriage';—"-My biggest bill is forty-two pounds. to Snell and Walker, the Conduit Street tailors. However, I am ordering my marriage-suit from them, and that will keep them quiet "—has no desire to make literary capital out of domestic infelicities. On the contrary, he may be said to indicate the means by which friction may be avoided,—e.g.. the avoidance of unnecessary confessions. The book, in short, is an honest and robust effort to deal with a. theme which, given such people 'and such _surroundings, is incapable of romantic treatment. The conversational amenities of the young people are reproduced with relentless realism, and the author might haie, shown more regard for one of his hero's "Maxims for the Trairia" : " There is only one thing worse than quarrels in pnblic. That is caresses?' The episode of the visit of the discarded mistress, and her sudden abandonment of her vindictive resolve, is neither convincing nor agreeable. But with these deductions Dr. Conan Doyle's study of a suburban menage is a faithful and careful piece of work. We may note that the scene 'is laid in the neighbourhood of Wokiug, already immortalised as_thelanding-place of the Martians in Mr. Wells's War of the Worlds.
• Men who lead double lives have 'long been fathiliar figures in fiction, but we seldom have encountered a female character who so literally led a twofold existence as the heroine of A Double Thread. Lest this statement should be misconstrued, we hasten to add that, contrary to precedent, the motive is in this instance quite blameless. Elfrida Harland is the twin grand-daughter and heiress of a nobleman, who adopted her on condition that she should be entirely cut off from her sister and her mother's people. Handsome, rich, and sought after, B.Lfrida despairs of meeting with any man who will love her for herself, and accordingly devises the plan of disappearing Periodically from Mayfair in order to visit her mother's parents-in the eharaoter-of-ther twin sister who is really dead. Thuit masquerading as Ethel, the poor governess, she wins the heart of that-beawsabreur, Captain Jack Le Mesurier, who had already been fascinated atd -repelled by the cynical Elfrida of Mayfair. The practical reunite of this dualism are for a- while somewhat disastrous. Elfrida owns a wonderful pink diamond endOwed with the Properties of a love philtre, Which she removes from her banker's custody to present to CaPtain Le Mesuri6r. But in so doing she is seen and recognised by a young -man who only knows her as the poor governess, and is suspected, in conseq Knee, of impersonation and theft. Finally, growing tired of the farce, she confesses her identity to her lover, who, developing an unexpected huffineiii Over the imposition of whidh he had beeli this victim, breaks off the engagement, but, after a short interval, is reconciled and reunited to the volatile heiress. The plot, though it has undoubted histrionic possibilities, is wildly im- probable; but the book is none the less entertaining on that account. Dialogue is Miss Fowler's strong point rather than characterisation, and the dialogue, especially that of the rich middle-class people with social and artistic aspirations with whom Elfrida is brought into contact as the pseudo-governess, is invariably bright and 'animated. The Mayfair scenes suffer from an excess of smartness and are disfigured by occasional solecisms—e.g., no well-bred lady would think of addressing an officer as " Captain " tout court—but of their vivacity, attaining at times to positive wit, there can be no question. Here, for example, is a thoroughly typical example of Miss Fowler's powers. The talk having fallen on English reserve, the irresponsible Lady Silverhampton observes : "' If I had an Order I should invariably put it on for breakfast, I should be so proud of it. But Silverbampton is very English, and treats his as if it were a disgraceful family secret.' Lord Stonebridge smiled. ' Then according to your ladyship, Englishmen hide their feelings as carefully as they hide their stars?' Precisely ; and Englishwomen hide theirs as care- fully as they bide their garters.'" Dialogue of this sort comes so easily to Miss Fowler as to make it clear that she
ought to be able to write effectively for the stage. .
The note of distinction which one misses in the scintillating comedy of Miss Fowler, is found in The Confounding of Camelia,a novel in which subtlety of analysis and delicate play of humour are united with a sure command of deep and poignant pathos. Camelia is a young woman lavishly endowed with wit, beauty, and fascination, besieged with eligible suitors, who engages with unconscious cruelty in an unequal conflict with her un- attractive cousin for the affections of an accomplished middle- aged country gentleman, a " battered idealist," who has been Camelia's mentor from childhood. The tragedy of the story culminates in Camelia's only awakening to the true state of her own feelings and the extent of her cruelty when Mary—her cousin—is already dying of consumption, and her sincere and even self-sacrificing efforts to repair the mischief only aggra- vate the humiliation of her victim. Happily, in the last hours of her life Mary's resentment is dispelled; Camelia, stricken by unavailing remorse, is forgiven ; and in a last interview with the hero Mary sets all straight between him and Camelia. Death-bed scenes in fiction are more often distressing than impressive, but criticism is disarmed by the dignity and sim- plicity of Mary's farewell. The grace and expressiveness of the writer's style are quite exceptional, and materially enhance the attractiveness of a very touching romance.
The Miracles of Antichrist, by the author of Gosta Berling's Saga, is a story, or series of pictures, of modern in- dustrial life in Sicily, written in the same picturesque, spasmodic, vehement style. - The aim of the book is to show how Socialism to be effective must be Christianised, and represents Leo XIII. as deeply concerned in promoting that reconciliation,—The Golden Sceptre is yet another essay in the mock-royal genre, in which plain Giles Brittain, after many adventures, eventually wins the hand of Varna, the fascinating ex-Queen of Moritania. Mr. Thornhill has come so near achieving a genuine success that we shall be disap- pointed if he does not entirely succeed at his next attempt.— Wicked Rosamond and Cicely Vaughan may be conveniently dismissed in the same paragraph. They are both issued by the same publisher, and in both the lady who fills the title- rile employs poison to remove the object of her hate. Miss Sandeman's story is perhaps the more preposterously artificial, but at least " Wicked Rosamond's " toxicological experiments recoil on her head, and her fate provides a salutary moral ; while the tone of Cicely Vaughan is one of unmitigated morbidity.—A Weaver of Runes is a pleasant story of station life in Cashmere, with a frustrated elopement as its crowning episode. The narrator is a diplomatic rather than heroic dens ex machind, but his dubious stratagem is vindi- cated by results.—The loves of Rowl and Gwen, as un- folded in Mr. Bnfton's" genial but ingenuous romance, serve as an excuse fur the introduction of the hero's poems, his answers in an crain'n.ition for the Methodist ministry, hid trial sermon, to say nothing of Gwen's essay, with copious extracts, on the works of Sir Lewis Morris. The narrative ie interlarded with numerous Latin and Greek " tags." and snippets of French and dubious German,—e.g., geselige Malazeit (p. 120).
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