24 AUGUST 1895, Page 23

The Mistress of Quest. By Adeline Sergeant. 3 vols. (Hutchin-

son and Co.)—This is a good, wholesome story of the old-fashioned sort, without the "New Woman," the "New Morality," or the "New Humour," and so neither vicious nor tedious. Miss Sergeant hasput her strength into three female characters,—the heroine, who gives a name to the book, her half-sister, and a very attractive young person who goes by the name of Julian. We do not think the second of these is a success ; somehow, she has nota real look, and her end is melodramatic rather than genuinely tragic. The. other-two studies are worthy of mneh praise. The men are slighter sketches, but sufficiently good. The Mistress of' Quest may be read with ease and without harm.