An Innocent Maiden. By Theo. Gift. (F. V. White and
Co.)— The maiden in question has two admirers,—an excellent and plain young vicar, and a rakish young captain, who, though generally very good-looking, was not so when out of temper, we imagine, since on such an occasion he is described thus :—" His face grew white and damp, a livid unwholesome white, and there was a dangerous glitter in his eyes, a narrowed, darkling look, before which the young girl shrank in involuntary terror." What a "narrowed" look may be we don't exactly know ; but anyhow it doesn't sound attractive. Though the heroine prefers the vicar, she nevertheless appears in the innocence (or was it the natural feminine flirtatiousness ?) of her heart, to find the captain's attentions so acceptable as to excite the wrath of his haughty mother, and the jealousy of her other lover ; and she presently gets by accident into an excessively awkward situation, which seems to confirm the suspicions which have been entertained regarding her. The story is slight, deals chiefly in love- making, and has no vestige of fun or humour ; but it has the recom- mendation of being contained in one volume, and may quite possibly be found readable by people who do not care for anything striking and original. The characters are, with one exception, reproductions of hackneyed figures which are already well known to novel-readers. The exception is Jane, a Salvation Army captain, who deems "the sound of hissing sweeter far than praise," and gives more indication than any- one else in the book of a capacity for becoming vigorous and in- teresting; but whatever possibilities she may have in that line remain undeveloped, in consequence of the extremely small part assigned to her.
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