Aileen Ferrer& By Susan Morley. (London : Henry S. King
and Co.)—To those who covet a library of pure and innocent fiction for the amusement and interest of young friends,—tales that they can lend, father. She is firm, however, in her resolve to be faithful to her game- keeper, and the interest of the story lies in the picture of her always honest straggles to see and do the right, and in the gradual develop- ment of higher tastes and a different ideaL The only defective part of the story is the absence of any shock of surprise or fear, when, after five years of the society of persons of large education and the truest refinement, she meets -the manly but entirely uncultivated, hard- headed, fustian-jacketed lover of her youth. The following passage makes her confidence as Tx-Mural as it can be made, but we do not believe in it :— "Somehow, the day of real country life, the cheerful, useful employ- ments, the scent of the hay, the hum of talk among the haymakers, and the unceasing accompaniment kept up by the little river which ran at the foot of the meadow, acted upon Aileen's imagination and made her feel that this 'was her right place in the world. Here she should find healthy occupation, a round of pleasant, useful, definite duties, affection and peace, and rest from all the vexed questions constantly arising in society, and from such exhausting mental conflicts as she had been enduring lately. She was in a sort of dream, in which she seemed to find it easy to make up her mind. The fear of future regret passed away for the moment, and she felt pleasure in the prospect of the sort of life she imagined herself leading. There was a charm even in its monotony."
The arguments against the sacrifice of her life to the fancied duty of fidelity are not original, certainly, but are strongly put,—whether they were successful against the obstinate sense of duty of our heroine, we will leave our readers to find out for themselves. Almost every char- acter is nicely drawn,—the Yorkshire dalesmen, as well as the sweet and graceful aunt, and the warm-hearted but fastidious uncle. The only lay figure is that of the engineer, Mr. Lushington ; in this world, it is as impossible for a perfect man to be interesting as it is for him to be natural.
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