28 FEBRUARY 1863, Page 24

The Cost of a Secret. By the author of "

Agnes Tremorno." Three Vols. (Chapman and Hall.)—This story is decidedly superior to the average three-volume novel of the period. It is, from beginning to end, very evenly written, and there is a very fair share of ingenuity displayed in the construction of the plot. Nor do we wish to imply the existence of any very serious deficiency in this respect, when we add that a little more force in the delineation of the various characters might, perhaps, have been desirable. Some readers may possibly be inclined to object that the secret upon which the whole story depends is scarcely of suffi- cient weight to bear the superstructure which is raised upon it. And, indeed, after having been called upon, during three long volumes, to pity the sorrows of a charming woman, who is, by a series of misunderstand- ings, separated for a long time from her scarcely less charming husband, it is rather vexatious to find that all this trouble has originated in the simple circumstance that the gentleman of whom the husband is ground- lessly jealous has thought it his duty to conceal the fact that he is a married man. This peculiarity may be, however, the result of design on the part of the author, who wishes, by diminishing the intrinsic value of the secret, to enhance our estimate of the cost which is paid for its preservation. Besides the leading moral which is sufficiently indicated by its title, the story is intended to inculcate two minor lessons—that a woman ought not to be blamed for going on the stage in order to earn her living, and that it is very wrong to entertain a prejudice against Frenchmen. We can very safely recommend the book to the novel- reading public.