Evening star., 1927-12-03
THE LIBRARY TABLE
By the BooAlorer

Boat Side. IL lS an ADJECTIVE NnlPn.
with its corresponding noun. the
author herself frequently uses. Eltin
contemplates ''in some amusement
Reverdy's probable boudoir Sophisti-
cation" Bates. the college freshman.
was availng himself of every short
cut to sophistica atom There Is 'the
real sophstication of Mr.. Edmunds'
plays" Alice accepts cocktails in
accordance with her estimation of
sophistication. Eltin wears ''sOphis-
ticated frock." One evidence of this
sophistication which is so insisted
upon Is the casualness Of Miss Eiker's
personages toward their divorces.
Justin Henderson, a bachelor of 40,
then committed the error of marrying.
after two months acquaintance, the
best stenoGra pher he had ever en-
ployed n woman 90 years his Junior. "
"Anna was French. very smart. and
practical" and cleaned house in the
mornings in a sort of Chinese costume
of iade-green satin with short coat
and trousers that in the last analysis
were nothing more or less than pa ia
mas" But the practical Anna per-
ceives that after the birth of her son
she herself is no longer essential to
her elderly husba nd. and, with no
scene" whatever. imparts to him the
information that she is about to
divorce him and marry his boolkeeper
She first gives him a tactful hint that
something is pending by emitting to
turn back the counterpart on his bed
as usual. Justin is as practical and
restrained as is Anna. After only a
few moments of thought, he responds:
You can get the divorce. ANY way
and anywhere you want to. As soon
rs the Summer is over and RObbie's
teeth are in" And less than a year
later when Bobbie has failed TO thrive
under the care of his father and his
fathers relatives. Justin takes him
and goes to board with Anna and her
new husband. "Justins just thick
enough and Annals just French
enough so that neither of them sees
anything extraordinary in the situa
ton" writes the college hoy Rates
Is it thickness. or FrenChiness, or is
it sophisticat ton?
X
When Eltin Henderson secures her
divorce, she learns from Anna the
Nevada technique. She is outWardly
az composed. as sophisticated. as
Anna, but her comp0sure is mask
for an inner tumult such as Anna has
never known. and she is grateful for
an Illness which helps her to bridge
the adjustment: lop off so many weeks
Of the six months" At the end OF
The time she is able to hand over 10
Reverdy the court copy of the divorce
decree while she sips cup of tea and
asks unconcernedly: when does your
marriage take place." Six years later
she drinks tea with him again and
amiablv decides TO remember that he
a. eli nf
sugar. Because she felt no faintest
stir OF former emotion, she could dis
play tokens of consideration that
might seem to him to proceed from
tenderness subdued but never
quenched." Reverdlv himself is an
artist in matrimonial ventures and
separations. His emotions are always
seasoned with rhetoric. The separa-
tions cause him genuine grief and
some remorse but he rallies quickly
and resumes his usual aplomb. Oblit
GRAFTON is easy for him. One other
divorce might have been accomplished
in "Over the Boat.Side" with equal
ease and suavity. Cecilia. Eltin's
sister. would. we are sure. have been
relieved to be divorced almost as soon
as her nine years engagement had
ended with the nuptial awning al the
hooI VI NhN Ntihiti vi ~. AooA ieApNS'
y
New York City is no place for an
idealist like Peter Campbell the hero
of Mary Borden's "F'lamingo." Nor is
the hard, spoiled daughter of / multi
millionaire the sort of wife to keep
him happy and save him from suicide.
Caught in the whirlpool of Grass ma
terialism and vulgar jazz, Peter. the
imaginative architect, the dreamer.
the descendant of Puritans. is unable
to reach any adjustment or any sta
bility. In the novel "F'lamingo" Mrs.
Borden, American by birth but British
by choice in recent years, has plainly
displayed her dislike of New York and
her condemnation of it's complex, arti.
fetal life.
Lady Augusta Stanley, wife of Dean
Stanley and daughter of the Earl of
Elgin, was a lady-in.waiting to the
Duchess of Kent. mother of Queen
Victoria. and was later chief woman.
of-the-bedchamber to Queen Victoria
herself. Her nephew, DR.. Baillie,
Dean of Windsor, has recently pub
ished a judicious selection of his
aunt's letters to his mother, Lady
Francis Baillie-"Letters of Lady Au-
gusta Stanley" edited by the Dean of
Windsor and Hector Bolitho. The let
ters chosen show unqualified alteration
of the Queen and admiration for her
devotion to duty. her patience. resig-
nation and sweetness under affiiction.
AMI her general magma nimity and ele.
walton of character. The Queens OBJ
liviousness to the cold of Highla nd
Scotch Summers, however, caused
Lady Augusta some discomfort, for
she preferred vigorous exercise over
the moors near Balmoral, whereas the
Queen was content that they should
amble along on ponies until they almost
perished with cold. Lady Augusta was
present at the death of the Prince
Consort and helped to lead the be-
reaved Queen away to another room,
where 'she summoned the children
around her to clasp them to her heart
and assure them she would endeavor.
if she lived, to live for them and her
duty and to appeal to them from
henceforth to seek to walk in the foot.
steps of him whom God had taken to
Himself" Lady Augusta was also in
at the deathbed of the
Duchess of Kent when the Queen
stole into the room three times during
the night, with her lamp, ''in her
white dressing gown. and knelt. kiss
ing the hand and Whispering Mama
so lovingly and earnestly as if the
sound must rouse her" The letters
presented to the public are so inter-
esting in their intimate impressions
that one wishes the Dean of Windsor
had published a more liberal selection.
X X X x
Two volumes of Amy Lowell's post
humous poetry have already been pub
lished-"What's O'Clock" and East
Wind" A third volume. Ballads for
Sale has recently appeared. The un-
and varied meters, un-
usual imagery. odd and striking Situ-
ations and suggestive phrasing So char
acteristic of Miss Lowells earlier work
are to he found in this volume also,
The poems included in these three vol
umes are of such excellence that the
authors death at little past so seems
to have come just as she was attaining