The Old Maid's Secret. By E. Marlitt. Translated from the
German by H. J. G. (Strahan.)—The translator is quite justified in calling this " a charming story." It is a study of character, worked out with all the precision and care, all the minuteness of detail, all the "thoroughness," in short, which the best class of German novel-writers give to their work. At the same time, it fails, as the good German novel often does fail, in the element of incident. The whole of that part of the story from which the title is taken might, as far as we can see, be dropped out of it without loss, we might almost say with ad- vantage. The real interest of the tale lies in the growth, of the antagonism, and the ultimate reconciliation of the two principal characters, the girl Felicitas, with her haughtiness, independence, and fierce sense of wrong ; and "Doctor John," cold, prejudiced, and stern, but with an inflexible love of justice which does its work of redeeming and beauti- fying his whole nature. The " secret " is made, it is true, to play its part, bringing about the final catastrophe, and this is managed with sufficient ingenuity, but it does not add to the attraction of the story.
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