Gentianella. By Mrs. Randolph. 3 vols. (Hurst and Blackett.)— Before
the end of the first volume the heroine has had three offers, and has accepted a man whom she does not love in her wrath at what she supposes to be the unfaithfulness of the man to whom she has given her heart. As quite early in the book she finds out that she has been mis- taken, and that it was not her lover whose marriage she had read of, but her lover's uncle, we feel rather uneasy about what we are going to have before the three volumes are finished. This uneasiness is not in the least justified. Nothing could be more unexceptionable than the progress of the story. The unlucky man who had lost so much by the fact of his uncle bearing the same name behaves quite without re- proach. This conduct is not without its reward. The husband, " twenty- n inth Baron Sibbertoft," developes a convenient tendency to consumption, which in due time carries him off. The lover aforesaid, by some mys- terious hocus-pocus of a lost ring, which we do not profess thoroughly to understand, is discovered to be the heir of title and estate; and se becomes "Thirtieth Baron Sibbertoft," and second husband of the beautiful Muriel. We may mention, by the way, that the third lover consoles himself by making an offer on the Sunday following his rejection, and finds that his marriage turns out better than he had any right to expect.
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