New-York tribune., 1902-05-04

flown nonsense of the page and a half of pro-
logue. Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Halr' Is
really an entertaining story. The supposititious
narrator thereof is a gallant young gentleman
Of the Elizabethan period. who mixes himself
up in the adventures of Queen Mary and, as a
result finds il necessary to fly from The au-
thorities. He seeks refuge in the house of Sir
George Vernon. a bibulous and irascibe indi-
Vidua possessed of great wealth and or
radiantly beautiful daughter the heroine of the
novel. 1t may be Observed incidentally, that
after the pains Mr. Major has taken to cele-
brate this maidens charms ii is too bad
she should be portrayed by the illustrator OF
this book in the character Of a cOnventionally
pretty girl of the present time, a figure about
as Elizabethan as a fashion plate of the day
before yesterday. Mistress Dorothy and the
fortune she will inherit are offered to Master
Malcolm. He does not want either. his heart
being engaged in another direction. But even
if he were enamoured OF the heroine he would
have no luck with her She is a headstrong
vixen and nothing will satisfy her but
alliance with of the two men in all Eng
land best hated by the tyrannical Sir George
Upon the rest Of the story will not pause
save to mention that Elizabeth and Mary both
appear upon the scene not long before the end
is reached Mr. Major wisely makes his his
toricaI figures however. subsidiary To the others
we have mentioned, wreaking himself upon the
development Of a long series OF lively incidents.
in which Dorothy's eutanglement with her
father and her lover is exploited in manner
to puzzle and please the reader. It is a bright
romance sufficiently dramatic and picturesque.
Mrs Walfurd's Charlotte is another ppdo. a
brilliant. witching. beautiful creature Of TIA"
world worldly. Hard and scheminE to IN" point
of vulgarity daring to q point beyond it, thu
girl has yet enough heart to feel ami sometimes
to desire a genuine love and an intellect which
makes her scorn the baseness Of her own aims
even while she steadily pursues them. She is a
modern type well worth study, and Mrs. Wal
ford has described her with a penetration and
an accuracy of detail which We do not think
have been sufficiently appreciated Here is the
Dodo girl Of society from the feminine obsery-
er's point of view, aui realize that her
character is made more intelligible though her
charm is less evident than under the masculine
novelists handling. Mrs. Walfoid takes her
portraiture a little too seriously. ana IN playing
the moralist she occasionally forgcts the nee
essary part Of satirist. But making allowance
for every fault Of haste and Of vision. it must
be said that she has drtwn with surprising
tuition and Geftness an extremely complex be
ing. ChIIlottc's mother, too is revealed in
slight but vivid lines The men of the book
are less clearly presented. serving principally
as the machinery hy which the career of Char
Iotte is developed to its bitter close.
The author Of The Diary of a Goose Girl" has
never used her sprightIy pen to better advantage
than in this slight sketch. 1t treats IF a young
woman in love. who nevertheless takes it into
her head to put a few leagues between herself
and the suitor for her hand, of whom she has
been seeing enough for the moment in Eng