New-York tribune., 1909-05-29
UNH4PPY LOVERS.
The international Marriage IN a
Dubious Light.

324. Doubleday Page Co.
BALTHAAsAR A By Anatole Fl France %, rFa TRANSIT 9sb
Lane Company.
+ GAMBoLLING WITH GALATEA. A Bucoc Ro-
/ nance. BY Curtis Durham Illustrated by
oliver Herford l2mo. PIP. 1S5- Houghton Mif-
fin Company
The anonymous aut. Of THE Inner Shrine
has written very interesting though some
what depressing story. It's heroine is a French
coquette. woman with nothing actually evil
in her nature, who nevertheless cannot help but
indulge her propensity Irritation, and is recN-
lcssly defiant Of public opinion Early in the
book 1t appears that she has trifed once too
often. Her husband. who has got himself into
financial difficulties through permitting her eX-
! travagances is Furthermore led into duel on
her account His enemy fires into the air. but
/ his heart is broken and he takes his own life.
Diane. as a matter of fact. is really innocent
. She has been fndiscreet but not unfaithful. I'm
: fortunately for her, the man with whom her
husband had gone upon the field of honor pre-
tends that he had been successful in the siege
/ Of her heart. and from this lie there flow cruel
I developments The young widow comes to this
country with her American mother-in-law and
} seeks to earn her own living. She obtains
! engagement as companion to the daughter OF a
wealthy widower. he falls in love with her. and.
/ of course the wicked story of her affair in
! Paris comes 20 trouble the course of the mill
/ lOnalre'S WOO1ng. Ine purpose or tne auIloT
would appear to be the exposition of the diff
cultes following international marriage and
of those which spring from the conflict OF
! American and French codes of morality. In
} respect TO these matters the book is not. to be
sure, very wcishty. But a love story THE
1 Inner Shrine" VIII do very we'll There is some
thing appealing about the hapess Diane. and
what is more. the upshot of disciplinary ad-
ventures fully rouses the readers curiosity He
suspects that she will land in a safe harbor.
Just how she is 10 get there IS not so clear. and
the narrative is managed with the adroitness
necessary TO keep the question unanswered
until the right moment has been reached The
Inner Shrine" IS eminently readable novel
Another international marriage IS dealt with IN
Mrs. Humphry Wards latest novel, and dealt
with after a rather surprising fashion. This
author is nothing If not serious. She likes the
theme that makes for thought, and so soon as
we gather from the drirt of ibis book that she
has interested herself in the divorce laws OF the
United States We expect to fEd her in deeply
reflective vein She rewards us by the recita.
OF about as obvious and crudely colored
case" as have ever encountered In current
Action A young English Apollo whose fort
unes are at a low ebb visits this country and
promptly marries an heiress. She is jealous
MINK THE true child Of the hoastfu mercuria,
Irishman who had married her Spanish mother
as part OF trade bargain. on a chance visit to
Buenos Ayres." When the two settle down IN
England the destruction of their happiness is
extraordinarily rapid, Daphne is preposterous-
" jealous and extremely vulgar Her husbandg
good looking Master Roger Barnes. gives her
no real cause for anger, but circumstances
throw him in the company Of a Mrs. Fairmic.
who had Tilted him just before his American
journey, and trouble ensues The plot is clearly
Of the most conventional order, and Mrs. Ward
IS equally commonplace in matters of charac-
terization. Daphne, while possessing some cred
ible traits is. the whole, unconvincing
type and certainly in no wise a representative
American girl. Roger Barnes who is supposed
TO be a gentleman IS nevertheless capable OF
taking with mis- sinister Mrs. Fairme about
the nurse employed to look after his child. and
when his interlocutor asks if he likes the
oman he blurts out, We'll, no-I don't! Shes
noe 49, kind of woman I want But
my wife thinks a lot of her" 1t is hard to
blame Daphne when she gets her divorce es-
pecially as Mrs. Wards effort TO show up the
woman's weaknesses and to excite compassion
for the man falls quite fat From the author of
a book like David Grieve" this story IS singu-
Iarly thin and disappointing, though much of
Mrs. Wards later work has compared unfavor
ably enough with that by which she her
repute long ago.
The new book in the series of translatons
from Anatole France now going forward con-
tains six short stories and idyih; fairy tale
drawn on a larger scale. Mrs. John Lane, who
has put these pieces into English with much
skill and sympathy, has had some very char
acteristic material TO work upon. "Balthasar,'
the tale which gives the volume its title, is one
of those curious compositions in which NJ.
France like NJ. Gebhart, has artistically turned
Biblical motives to the uses Of more or less ro-
mantle fiction. The popular critic and story
teller lacks certain of the gifts of his scholarly
contemporary. The late NJ. Gebhart possessed
what we can only describe a spiritual deli
cacy an instinct of tender reticence, to which
NJ. France is a stranger. The story of the
Three Kings, al he tells it in "Balthasar,' is in
some subtle fashion wanting in true reverence.
The love of Balthasar and Balkis. Queen of
Sheba. is celebrated in pages which make a
distasteful prelude to the scene of the saviour's
birth. And yet the picturesqueness of the thing,
its color and its outlandsh charm, are unde-
niable NJ France may never so frequently OBJ
trude the earthly streak in his nature; we are
bound to read him and to be beguiled He is
quite free from dross. and, indeed. the master
OF pretty sentiment, in the cameo called THE
Cures MignoNtte" and there is d persuasive
sweetness about the fairy tale mentioned above
the quaint bit of romance called Honey Bee"
He Is bizarre even TO the point of grin.ncss in
m Pigeonneau.' The Daughter of Lilith" and
The Red Egg In 'Lfeta Acilia'' he gives US !
with his wonted deftness a page out of old
Roman life.
'Gambolliug with Gaatea" is an amusing
book-for a little while. The author has con-
ceived of delightful home in the country. be-
longing TO a professor whose domestic animals