NOVELS.
THE HEART OF ROME.*
THE clash of traditions and creeds—pagan, mediaeval, and modern—finds a more dramatic expression in Rome than in any other capital in the world, and has appealed within the last few years to novelists so widely divergent in aims and methods as Zola and Mr. Hall Caine. Mr. Marion Crawford's choice of a somewhat similar theme inspires the reader with no misgivings. We know that whatever may be his limita- tions, and however far he may allow his idealising tendencies to carry him from close correspondence to the facts of life, he at least builds on a foundation of intimate and sympathetic acquaintance with modern Italian society and an extensive study of the best historical authorities. In fiction, as in biography, a certain bias in favour of your subject is by no means undesirable, and while Mr. Crawford cannot be said to be blind to the faults of the Italians, he has at • 2'1%* Heart of Rome: a Tale of the "Lost Water." By Francis Marion Crawford. London: Macmillan and Co. [6s.] least a sensitive appreciation of their fine qualities which greatly enhances the charm of his portraiture. This sym- pathy, in view of the peculiar debt that England owes Italy as the great radiating centre of humanism, always ensures Mr. Crawford a peculiarly attentive audience in England, and it is illustrated once more, though within a somewhat restricted area of portraiture, in his new romance. The number of personages who enlist the admiration of the reader is but small, and in the majority of cases greed, vin- dictiveness, or vulgar self-interest is the mainspring of action. But Mr. Crawford is old-fashioned enough to believe that you cannot dispense altogether with characters whom it -would be pleasant to make friends of in real life, and accord- ingly gives US in hero and heroine, in the old notary, and in the hero's body-servant at least four figures towards whom the reader is drawn by personal liking as well as psychological interest. It is worth noting again that here, as in his earlier novels, Mr. Crawford shows himself a firm believer in the superior moral fibre of the old aristocracy, and attributes to the last representative of an ancient but ruined house qualities for which we look in vain in the typical products of the new regime,—as he depicts them.
The starting-point of the novel is the collapse of the family of Conti, brought down by the reckless extravagance of the Dowager-Princess, a selfish woman of the world, and the prodigal benefactions of her daughter-in-law, a fanatical clgvote. The old Princess retires to Poland, leaving her unmarried daughter Sabina in the charge of the parvenue Baroness Volterra, whose husband, an able but unscrupulous financier, is the chief creditor of the Conti estate. The Baron and Baroness are not unkindly people in their vulgar way, but their benevolence is chiefly determined by selfish motives, and they hope to derive a certain amount of social prestige from chaperoning the daughter of so famous a house as that of Conti, to say nothing of the chance of marrying her to one of their sons. Meantime the Baron, who has entered into possession of the palace, has com- missioned a young Venetian architect and archaeologist to report on the structural condition of the building and explore the vaults and hidden subterranean chambers. Marino Malipieri, the young archaeologist, thus comes across Sabina, is struck by her beauty and her isolation, and constitutes him- self her champion. He has taken the measure of her patron and patroness, and is resolved that Sabina shall reap the full advantage of any discovery that he may make which the law will permit. The Baron, on his side, is equally resolved to evade the law and deport the art treasures which he has good reason to believe are buried beneath the basement of the palace. In the arduous work of piercing through the solid masonry of the vaults Malipieri can only rely on the assistance of his body-servant, and the work is rendered dangerous by the risk of being drowned by the sudden rise of the "lost water," —those mysterious springs and streams which are amongst the most perplexing features of subterranean Rome. The secret of the "lost water," so far as the Palazzo Conti is con- cerned, is only known to one man in Rome, a rascally mason, formerly employed by the family for odd jobs, who is ready to wreak vengeance on Malipieri and his servant for refusing to take him into their confidence. Malipieri's underground adventures culminate in a sensational discovery, which he is determined to show to Sabina.; but the execution of his design has most disastrous results. They are both within an ace of being buried alive, and when he has rescued her at the peril of his own life, he unwittingly becomes the means of compromising her honour. To make matters worse, these two innocent people, though they love one another, are kept apart by the fact that Malipieri already has a wife,—whom he married to oblige a dying friend, but has never seen since they parted immediately after the ceremony. For the extremely unconventional solution of this distressing problem we must refer our readers to Mr. Marion Crawford's pages, in the assurance that they are not likely to dissent from our cordial recommendation of an exciting and attractive romance.
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