Fiction.
Belinda : a Tale of Affection in Youth and Age. By Hilaire Belloc. (Constable. Os.) MR. BELT OC surely enjoyed himself thoroughly in the writing of this mannered jest, which is dedicated to the " Eros of Keir." He adopts the methods as well as the style of the early nineteenth century novelettists (the word is inevitable). He stretches the obliging arm of coincidence to the utmost 'reach of its finger-tips, and the neck of his heroine to its most swan-like limit. And all the while he goes one better than his models, as, with tongue in cheek, he takes their adjectival galaxies, and sorts them out in the slyest manner.
Here is a description of the ravishing toilette which Belinda wore at a " noble function " when she appeared as the Queen of Wiltshire Society." " It was of a white and gauzy kind, relieved with large blue flowers of artificial construction ; and while its ample but tenuous contours enhanced (if that were possible) the lure of her delightful carriage, its hue and cut proclaimed her charming innocence."
Belinda, of course, loved a gallant but penniless youth, while her father wished her to marry an apparently wealthy neighbour, " whose full but handsome face, dignified by small square whiskers, admitted a restrained emotion." Filial duty compelled Belinda to promise not to see her true love (correspondence was allowed) until she had considered the matrimonial possibilities of the whiskered gentleman. Her father left her on her honour and in charge of a decayed gentlewoman while he visited London. Honour triumphed : so did the decayed gentlewoman who had been bribed by the .whiskered villain to intercept Belinda's letters. The gallant youth, heart-broken through waiting for notes that never came, set spurs to horse and sail to France. Belinda slipped into a decline. But in the end true love prevailed : there was a quadruple reunion in France. Belinda found her Horatio, and the latter's hostess proved to be a French Marquise who had been the childhood friend of Belinda's father.
As a freak book, Mr. Belloc's is very amusing, and it is a pity to think that all the swan-like creatures, who would have found it more passionately absorbing than we do, are no longer in a position to appreciate it.
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