The Credit of the County. By W. E. Norris. (Methuen
and Co 6s.)—Mr. Norris, contrary to his usual practice, has given us a motif in his new novel which distinctly borders upon bad morals. In the opening scene a husband, returning from an absence, finds his wife being kissed by another man. The wife is really not worse than extremely giddy and greedy of admiration, but we own to regretting that Mr. Norris did not follow his usual fashion of keeping his stories absolutely free from any taint of this sort. In the present instance the whole story revolves round the incident, which is seen by another person besides the husband. This person is a nouveau riche, extremely anxious to be received by the "county," which steadily refuses to call on him, at the same time trying to induce him to accept the mastership of the hounds, so as to enable the hunt to dispense with subscriptions. The present writer contends that this conduct seems to place the "county" on a plane of snobbery far above that of the nouveau riche; but Mr. Norris does not appear to see matters in this light. The author writes with his usual facile pen ; and Lady Mount-Sorrel, the ancient Peeress under whose yoke the whole county trembles, is an amusing figure, even though her portrait is a little exaggerated.
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