THE EYE OF PATE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2401, 8 March 1900, Page 64

THE EYE OF PATE.

By A. M. Mkadows.

Melbourne : Ward, Lock, and Co. Dun-

edin : Whitcombs and Tomb*

A capital novel of the sensational order is " The Eye of Fate." We may distinctly desire never to meet such personages as those who bring abouL the tragic events of tne plot, but we cannot deny that even cruel, criminal Honora Lsssing may have her prototype, that Philip Hilton is no worse than' many another gentlemanly rascal, and that worldly-wise, match-making Mrs Hsbble white is merely one of a large sisterhood.

Gt-orge IviorLin, whose untimely and violent "death is the tragic crisis of the plot, is a nice, honest fellow, honourable in intention, but a little weak in character who hr.s long loathed the engagement into which his cousin. Honr-ra Lossing, had veuris au;o enfi\ipp:d him. Honora is the eldo 1 o£ the two. She was once a great beauty, and tlic loa r -t of a season or two. with, a crowd oi admirers from whom she intended to cuoir-o a rich husband— .it her leisure. In the so dry.s George Morion loved iier, a 5a 5 - a young man adores a briJ- ] ant woman of the ■work I—but1 — but Tlonora puL him r[i, eynociing much higher thiugis •nairnnoni illy than a mere country squire, a- "wealthy a:id well-born aa George 1.

Tii.n ,i> her ;'r_hlO>u:, hopes iucb -•-. hh her Mulh Mid 1-c.vuly, H'uioim Lcsshu; falls biJc i>p™ the comforting idea that George MwiLo", being &. till single, is still her P'Uj .vv — io in-airy at any time f-he finds C)ivjm>nt. Gcrrge's ar-r^ disposition allow- hnn to di.ft iino tLe false po^nion of SLCv'mg to hi cn""i^od to iTonora L';-s-i'" 1 ;i id the cla rrf m>d ye it.s pass m--:ic-tonru-L on until Gcjl'lc talla dcyporaiuy in love with pretty, silly Daisy Eebbie-

white, and is secretly engaged to her. Honora, o* course, knows nothing of the defection of the man she intends to marry, and a' tuis juncture Grace Morton, an orphan cousin of George, a pretty, charming, and graceful girl, comes on along visit to the dear old country house over which Honora intends to be mistress some day, and where she already assumes the airs of a chatelaine, since her mother, old and senile, kee])s her own rooms.

George confides in Grace, who is by this time sincerely attacned to a young Irish barrister, Eric O'Neill. Honora, however, becoming jealous of Grace, forces the position, and obliges George to declare that his love for her is long since dead, and nothing will induce him to marry her. Honora, quite misunderstanding the position, mad with disappointed ambition and jealousy, takes the issue into her own hands, and almost succeeds in having Grace convicted of murder. All, however, ends happily (though one cannot help marvelling a little at the extreme irregularity of the court scene in the murder trial), and a great deal of sensation "is successfully crowded into the limited space of a brisk novel.