Fiction
MASQUERADE. By Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick. (Collins. 7s. 6d.)—If it were not for the title and for the twin portraits onthe wrapper, one might be inclined to regard Mrs. Sidgwick's latest novel as a mystery novel ; but, as it is, even the most wilfully obtuse reader could not • persuade himself that the Paul who returns to his old home is the Paul who went away from it. It is difficult to understand why the author has so deliberately given her secret away. The Paul who went away did not do so until he had become the father of an illegitimate child and had become engaged to a very unpleasant woman. The Paul who returned, after many years absence, found him- self much embarrassed by both of these and by a number of other matters. The only mystery about the affair is, how did the second Paul step into the first Paul's shoes ? Mrs. Sidg- wick keeps this secret until the end. She has proved again that she can always be relied upon for light entertainment, and even though the characters of her latest book are mostly caricatures they are pleasantly described.
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