The Kisses of an Enemy. By Mary Smith. (Digby and
Long.) —The style of this one-volume novel, which seems to be a first attempt, is simple and unpretentious ; its narrative substance is mildly melodramatic, and not a little improbable. Lord Kenwood, eldest son of Lord St. Barbe, pays a brief visit to Malta, during which he falls in love with and marries Ninon de Lomand, whom he brings home to live with him at his father's house, a somewhat unusual and, as it turns out, very unfortunate arrangement. Ninon's experiences of her husband's family, and even of her husband himself, are by no means wholly pleasant, and after a series of comparatively trifling disagreeables, she is accused of stealing a cheque for one hundred pounds which has been lost by Lord St. Barbe and is found in her purse. As her husband, with utterly incredible stupidity, believes her guilty, they separate by mutual consent, the separation continuing until the confession of the enemy referred to in the title brings them together again. It will be seen that the construction of the story is very crude, but some of the characters are fairly lifelike.
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