We hear much to-day of the death of the historical novel as a form of art. And this is because at its best to-day it has seemed a clever reconstruction of the past, a pastiche, as the French call it, a work of erudition, rather than an appropriation of the past for the purpose of effecting a romantic release from the uncompromising and prosaic conditions of the present. It is no wonder that the old romantic form of Scott and Dumas, being reduced to so lifeless a formula, should occasionally appear moribund. But it should be remembered that what proceeds from the mind, and is part of it, can always be renewed from the mind, and that forms in art are constantly being revitalized by some fresh creative impulse. And so often as there shall appear a writer like Miss Bowen capable of properly appraising the past, not as a shop stuffed with strange articles of attire and antiquities, but as a splendid stage set for the performance of a moving human drama, just so often will the historical novel renew its attraction over the minds of all men in new creations.

CONTENTS

CHAPTERPAGE
I. Gian Galeazzo Maria Visconti[3]
II. "Francisco"[15]
III. The Hostage of the Estes[25]
IV. Valentine[35]
V. The Painter's Daughter[39]
VI. The Rescue of Count von Schulembourg[51]
VII. "Graziosa's Bracelet"[58]
VIII. For a Lady's Gift[75]
IX. The Return of the Dead[88]
X. The Turquoise Gloves[99]
XI. Mastino della Scala[111]
XII. Graziosa's Lover[120]
XIII. Valentine Visconti's Toast[133]
XIV. The Tumult at the Western Gate[144]
XV. A Prisoner from Milan[157]
XVI. For a Game of Chess[165]
XVII. The Terrors of the Night[172]
XVIII. Giacomo Carrara's Reward[184]
XIX. A Sign from Heaven[190]
XX. In the Duke's Absence[199]
XXI. The Duke's Return[214]
XXII. The Secret Passage[226]
XXIII. For Love of Ambrogio[231]
XXIV. Treachery[238]
XXV. In Cloth of Gold[243]
XXVI. In Visconti's Hands[255]
XXVII. Unequal Odds[267]
XXVIII. The Viper[272]
XXIX. The Ordeal of Mastino della Scala[287]
XXX. The Wedding[303]
XXXI. The Pride of the d'Estes[314]
XXXII. The Price of Dishonor[327]
XXXIII. The Storm[334]
XXXIV. An Instrument of God[344]

The Viper of Milan