26 JUNE 1897, Page 42

Lady Levallien. By George Widdrington. (Henry and Co.)— This is

one of the stories which appear insoluble enigmas to a critic who accepts the usual views of the use of literature. What pos- sible end can they serve ? They are not beautiful; they teach nothing; they cannot be read without disgust Put in the briefest space, the story is this :—Lady Levallion, who has wearied out an old lover, finds him presenting a wedding-gift to her daughter. "You love her," she cries, and stabs the girl to the heart. The man kills himself. Imagine this told in a realistic style (such as these words), "which make the woman who listens have thick places in her throat," and you have Lady Levallion.