Horniman, Roy. Lord Cammarleigh’s secret; a fairy story of to-day. †$1.50. Little.
7–34173.
Anthony Brooke, unwilling to battle for bread, hits upon a bold plan. During his aimless wandering through Grosvenor square he espies Lord Cammarleigh, whom he knows by reputation, in conversation with a woman. Brooke observes the restlessness of his eyes and concludes that he is a man who has a secret, one who is afraid. With none of the malice of blackmail but spurred on by a fortune-hunter’s necessity of the things of life, Brooke looked the peer squarely in the eye and said, “I know your secret.” A private secretaryship, the management of the household affairs and, in truth of the obdurate Cammarleigh himself follow for the imposter in a most surprising manner.
“The book abounds with unfeeling fun, culminating in a rhetorical flourish of impudence. Fortunately for the nerves of the ordinary reader, the victim of blackmail is a puppet; but the other important characters are vigorously drawn.”
| + − | Ath. 1907, 2: 546. N. 2. 150w. |
“Granted, however, a single initial impossibility, the story goes on smoothly and naturally enough; and this, we take it, represents a more artistic method of dealing with the impossible than that which demands our acceptance of new miracles in every chapter.” Wm. M. Payne.
| + − | Dial. 43: 319. N. 16, ’07. 230w. | |
| Nation. 85: 417. N. 28, ’07. 210w. | ||
| N. Y. Times. 12: 656. O. 19, ’07. 30w. |
“Mr. Horniman is to be congratulated on a capital idea fully but not tediously exploited.”
| + | Sat. R. 104: 519. O. 26, ’07. 180w. |