NEW FICTION.

Hokitika Guardian, 1 December 1923, Page 4

NEW FICTION.

•Mr M. 1.. I.orke is fond of taking al.is 'central figure a diffident, selfe'la: ing person w iili whom toi iiinc has dealt unkindly, and lie has done this again in “Moordius and Co.” bis latest novel. 'I imotliy Kuayne is lame from an accident in bis childhood, and has always been "out of tilings" in conseipience. A.piproaching middle age finds him a sulnirdiiiatc member of a city linn of accountant-, a widower, whose only iniere-ts are his little girl mill his work. One of the clients of bis firm i.- a war profiteer, Orabbiter by name, with olfcnsivo manners, and an orphan niece Suzanne, the daughter of a French officer and an Fngli.sb mother. Orabbiter dies, leaving an

extraordinary will. Swayne and a celebrated l’ai'isian financier, Moordius are appointed exec i: i ir« and trustees. Suzanne is to inherit his property on reaching twenty-five. Meanwhile she is to spend six months of the year with each of the trustees. and is to forfeit the estate if she marries without their consent, or if siio marries one of them without the consent of the other. Moordius comes over to England to assume his duties, and, impressed with Swayue's financial acumen, takes him into partnership. Swayne can hardly believe his good luck. The scene shifts to the Continent., where Suzanne and Swayne plunge into a life which they find highly exciting. They regard Muordius as it wholly delightful individual, hut he has a daughter. Valerie, who does not share the opinion, and makes no secret of the fact. Indeed. her unfilia! behaviour to hot- devoted father is the cause of frequent passages of antis between the warmhearted Suzanne and her. Id would be unfair to reveal the denouement. Sftice it that Moordius. for all bis. superficial geniality and charm, turns out to be a monster of iniquity. Swayne loses every penny he has ill the world, but wins what he values even more. If is a capital slot \, quite free from the surplusage of sentiment which Mr Locke’s work sometimes exhibits. And Moordius. for all bis rascality, is an acute observer —“A wonderful race these English . . .

Their damned dominance! They ar? saving nothing. They pretend to d > nothing. They yield the credit. of their mighty Empire to Scotch. Melsli. Irish. Australians. Canadians, Fiji Islanders. . . They applaud the fervent bagpipes. They smile indulgently at Welsh eisteddfod: until recently the Irish have been far more popular in England than the English. When Canadian troops marched through an English country town. patriotically

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