Though "E. H. ANSTRUTHER" (Mrs. J. C. SQUIRE) has called her latest story _The Husband_ (LANE) one can hardly resist the feeling that this is rather a generous description of the central character, who indulged in so much philandering with one person or another that it is difficult to regard him as more than a husband in, so to speak, his spare time. _Richard Dennithorne_, I must believe, was a "ladies' man" in two senses, since he is undeniably a very womanly conception of the all-conquering male, with indeed more than a little of _Mr. Rochester_ in his composition. The story tells how _Penelope_, the heroine, comes to live with her adopted aunt _Margery_, of whom _Richard_ was the spouse (intermittent); how _Richard_, at the moment absent upon amorous affairs, returned, and so fascinated _Penelope_ with his masterful ways that she fled to London; how, almost immediately after, she stultified her precautions, but saved the plot, by becoming _Richard's_ secretary at his office in that city; and how, finally, poor _Margery_ (who throughout monopolised my sympathy), having generously expired, _Penelope_ and the ex-husband fell into each other's arms. Of course there is a lot more than this really, so don't think that I have spoilt the fun for you. As for the quality of the tale, this, I fancy, may be better appreciated by women than men, since, as I have hinted, its outlook is so essentially feminine. Mrs. SQUIRE writes with sincerity and brings her characters to life. She needs, however, to remember that words unwatched are dangerous. Such slipshod phrasing as "_young_ muscular _youth_" must grieve the judicious, while the effect of the sentimental interview on p. 99 was simply ruined for me through the unfortunate suggestion conveyed by "her blood rose _in a boil_ to her face." The italics are mine, but the proof-reading is (or should have been) the author's. * * * * *