The San Francisco call., 1910-05-01
Franklin WinslOW Kane"

Franklin WlnSlOW Kane"
By Anne Douglas Sedgwick, author of "A
Fountain Sealed" Published by The Cen
tury company. New York. Price $3.50.
Anne Douglas Sedgwick is a finished
writer. Her work is as characteristic
of people, places and things of today
as is Jane Austen's of her day. This
new volume from her pen is not de-
voted entirely to Franklin Winslow
Kane, though he comes to be the
strongest and finest character in it.
1t really tells part of the life story of
TOUR people: two men and two women,
and each one is of a special interest
Althea Jakes is an American. When
the tale opens she is 33 years old, has
Travelled for the last 10 or 12 years all
over Europe and been in America once.
she has no desire to return to America,
but she has no particular desire to do
anything, and sudden realization of
her indifference makes her profoundly
melancholy. She is a pretty woman,
has good education and enough for
tune to be called more than comfort
able. For Is years she has had the
steady devotion of Franklin Winslow
Kane. He has first proposed to AL
thea when she was Is. She was now
33, and for all these years Franklin
had proposed to her on every occasion
that offered itself He was deeply yet
calmly, determinedly, yet ever so pa
tiently, in love with her; and while
other more eligible and more easily
consoled aspirants had drifted away,
married and become absorbed in their
growing families, Franklin alone re-
mained admirably faithful. Althea had
never given him any grounds for ex-
pecting that she might some day marry
him, yet he evidently found 1t inlpos-
sible to marry anybody else This was
the touching fact about Franklin, the
one bright point, as it were. in his
singularly colorless personality. His
fidelity was like a f1eck of orange on
the wing of some gray, unobtrusive
moth-it made him visible"
With every page we see more of the
greatness of Kane's character and come
to realize more and more why he was
small and unattractive and not snowy
When Althea met Gerald Digby she
almost laid her heart at his feet at
once. Gerald was just the type to win
a conventional and systematic person
like Althea, for he, was everything
she was not. Read his descriptions
Gerald Digby was a tall and very
slender man; he tilted forward when
he walked and often carried his
hands in his pockets. He had thick,
mouse colored hair, which in perplexed
or meditative moments he often
ruff1ed by rubbing his hands through
it, and even when this disordered it
kept its air of fashionable grace His
large, long nose; his finely curved lips
and eyeiids had a delicately carved
look. as though the sculptor had taken
great care over the details of his
face. His brown eyes had thick up
turned lashes, and were often in ex-
preston absent and Irresponsible but
when he looked at any one intent
and merry, like a gay dogs eyes. And
OF the many charming things about
Gerald Digby, the most charming was
his smile, which was as infectious as
a childs, and exposed a joyous array
of large white teeth"
Gerald's cousin, Helen Buchanan,
was very interesting character also
She was poor as a church mouse, as
also was Gerald, with just such an ir-
responsible disposition as he had, just
as great love for luxuries, just as
carelessly selfish, and they were very
fond of each other.
Gerald has treated Helen as If she
were dear sister all his life and
he feels that she is quite necessary
to his existence. but there is no
thought of love. 1t seems to be neces-
sary that both Gerald and Helen marry
for money, for both have family and
position, but no fortune Gerald meets
good to look at so that it is not hard
for him to sacrifice himself for her
fortune. 1t is a sacrifice, though Of
his freedom and independence, though
he little guesses of what else.
We have seen it slowly coming 1one
through the pages before, but when
Althea and Gerald become engaged
Helen goes off to the woods to hide
her broken heart. She has known for
long how she loves him. but he has
no notion how he loves her.
An aunt comes on the scene and
asks Kane If he will marry Helen. and
while he knows he can mend his own
broken heart he thinks he can give
Helen enough comforts to make her
happy. and they do like and respect
each other. He has inherited some
millions and is a very desirable parti
So here are two unhappily arranged
pairs, and Ii is the authors work to
arrange and rearrange until she. has
them where she wants them. 1t is an
unusual piece of writing; some of 1t
will please and some of 1t irritate In
the publishers "blurb" we find the
statement: Franklin has loved Althea
all his life, and in the end his own
comes to him; but there are many
months when the hearts and lives of
these four are tried and harassed'
Really it quite depends on how to
interpret MS own 10 the average
reader that part Of the story will be
very disappointing, and with the hearts
arranged as they are it is very Diff
ficult to see how 1T could be improved.
The character of Kane Is always Just
right, and the author has done the
best writing of her career on this one
man. The story contains some fine
pictures of English life, and the book
will be talked of everywhere
1t may interest the public to know
that the author recently married
Basil de Selincourt, though she still
uses her own name as a pen name
was born in Englewood, N. j., but
since her childhood has lived abroad
chiefly in London and Paris. This
book is her seventh work.