"You believe only in motion, Mr. Finn;--and not at all in quiescence. An express train at full speed is grander to you than a mountain with heaps of snow. I own that to me there is something glorious in the dignity of a man too high to do anything,--if only he knows how to carry that dignity with a proper grace. I think that there should be breasts made to carry stars." Conversational virtuosity of this order leaves the reader with jaw agape. The English are better at this than we Americans are, as can be seen by tuning in to the prime minister's question and answer sessions on BBC-TV. And the Victorians were better at it than we are. In any event, Madame Max holds her ground with poise and polish, justifying Shirley Robin Letwin's description of her in _The Gentleman in Trollope: Individuality and Moral Conduct_ (The Akadine Press, originally published 1982) as "the most perfect gentleman in Trollope's novels." This is a picaresque novel that hangs together pretty well, following the hero from one adventure to the next. He meets fair damsels and does battle with dragons, also encountering mentors and would-be mentors who instruct him in _le monde comme il faut_. Surely the author was already planning a sequel, _Phineas Redux_, to rescue the young hero from the oblivion in which this story leaves him. This textbook on politics concludes with the reader waiting for one more lesson: Politicians may retire, but not for long. A CUNNING WOMAN THE EUSTACE DIAMONDS Lizzie Eustace is beautiful and clever, and she has no intention of parting with her late husband's gift to her, the Eustace Diamonds. But does she really have them? And where are they? This well constructed mystery is one of those Trollope novels which deserves to be better known and more widely read. (Others in this list include _The Last Chronicle of Barset_, _The Duke's Children_, and _Orley Farm_.) Lizzie has been compared to Becky Sharp, the prime mover in William Makepeace Thackeray's _Vanity Fair_; Trollope actually invites such comparison, describing her early in the book as an "opulent and aristocratic Becky Sharp." Like Becky, Lizzie attracts admirers. "Sometimes I think her the most beautiful woman I ever saw in the world," says the obviously smitten Frank Greystock in describing Lizzie Eustace. But Becky casts a wider net, as described by a servant: "'Miss B., they are all infatyated about that young woman,' Firkin replied. . . . 'I can't tell for where nor for why; and I think somethink has bewidged everybody.'"