In a World of his Own. By Mrs. Fred. E.
Pirkis. 3 vols. (Reming- ton.)—In a World of his Own is not an improvement on "Disappeared from her Home," which was, if we mistake not, Mrs. Pirkis's first attempt. In the first place, it is three volumes, instead of one; nor do we see that there is any superabundance of material that would justify the larger compass. Llewellyn March, brought up in expectations of a great fortune, discovers that the uncle from whom he had been taught to expect an inheritance has left an heir nearer than himself. Among his other dreams—and his life has been mainly lived in such things— he has fancied that he has found perfection in a certain Lady Victoria Cathrow. But Lady Victoria throws him over without hesitation when she hears of the change in his fortunes, and marries a man who has absolutely nothing but his wealth to recommend him. He seeks forgetfulness by plunging into the Franco-Prussian war, then raging. (Is it not, by the way, a curious oversight to say that "many years afterwards" he was reminded of a certain incident in that war ? It is not yet "many years since 1870.) All things ultimately are set right, in a way which it would not, perhaps, be fair to the author to reveal. We cannot say much for the plot, and this is a novel which depends upon its plot. The discovery of the real heirship to the wealth of Llewellyn March's uncle is a device which has been employed in fiction till it is quite threadbare. Nor can we pretend to fool any !In- terest in the denouement of the drama. It is not easy to say whether the folly of the heroine or the opportune arrival of the heir is the more improbable. There are signs of ability here, as there were—and more manifest—in "Disappeared from her Home ;" but we cannot record an advance.
Previous page
