SOUTH FROM MAYFAIR

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 18, 1 November 1940, Page 7

SOUTH FROM MAYFAIR

CHAPTER. XL

TEA WITH “THE ENEMY.”

“Where did you hire that cart* In Hanmer?” “Yes.’' “And where is the Oreinoine ? “1 left it in the garage up there. “vVlien were you going back?-” “To-day, I must go back to-day. That was all that was said between them on the way back to town. tie drove her into the garage where she had had her car parked that nigh , an arranged for a breakdown car to go out and bring the wreck in. He also pai something for the car which lie had been driving. “i hired it to follow you in, in case you tried to make a getaway!’ he in formed her, candidly. “And now,” he said, as she stood bj with no idea in her aching head as I>o what she should do next, “there sno netting back to Hanmer until is afternoon on the service car. The time is now 11.1-5, and 1 had no breakfast before we began this silly game, buppose we go and have morning ca somewhere?” _ . Conscious of something more than a mere invitation in his voice—m tact his tone had an edge of a command in it, Lorna wept with him quietly, bhe would be glad to sit down. “So this is what it’s like for an innocent -woman to be the dupe o a criminal,” she thought. The only difference was that she was not a dupe, ug was the dupe being soothed into a false sense of security ... They went to a large restaurant on the top of one of the big stores, to which she had been before with Mrs ■Shane. She slipped into the cloak room and combed and set her curls, an made up her face with the implements of female battle which she had in her handbag. She pushed in the crown of her brown felt hat, and gave it as smart an angle as might be—but except as a disguise it had never been a success. Her face was white and there were heavy dark rings under her eyes. She met Hawksford in the lounge. As they crossed the restaurant, Lorna wondered what the smart women shoppers who crowded the tables about them would have thought if they could have known the situation! The danger and the tragic possibilities of it!' They sat at the table by the window. He seemed perfectly at ease and gazed at her face with the faintly wistful amusement that men display about such things: - . 1 ‘I suppose your face feels itself again with all those'little spots of powder and little dabs of paint?” “It seems more normal that way,

said Lorna. “Well, you really didn’t put on a disguise to disguise yourself, did you—you took one off!”She poured out his tea and obeyed lus request for two lumps of sugar. He took the cup, and the teapot also out of her hand, and poured her tea for her. “You’re shaking, and you look pretty rotten after that smash up. You’d better go to an hotel, or to some friends, and lie down while I see about the car.”

“I do feel rather shaken!” The tea made, her feel better, until he remarked with faint sarcasm.

“If you see anyone here who knows us both, what will you feel, being caught having tea w T ith a chauffeur?” Lorna turned her face to the window, and said nothing. How desperately reckless he must be, she thought, to be able to joke like that, as if infinitely more serious things were not involved!

“To-morrow I have to drive you through to Kaikoura, haven’t I?” lie said.

“I believe so,” said Lorna. To-morrow was the 27th, the next day the 28th, and the day' after that was the 29th when her father would return from the Chathams. Suddenly she remembered something which had been driven from her head by tlie alarms and excursions of the morning. She had to find out where (Gulliver's-Bay was, if she was to be there on the afternoon of the 28th!

With her disquieting escort she left the restaurant twenty minutes later.

“Are you going to take my advice to go and lie down somewhere?” lie said.

“Yes, I think I will!” i “Perhaps you’d better not go to the hotel wo were in last night as they may have their suspicions about you!” “I’ll lie down in the rest room of this store,” said Lorna. “And you’ll meet me -at 2 p.m. at the garage, ten minutes before the Hanmer service-car leaves? We might have your car in running order, in which case I’ll drive you back to Hanmer.” “Thanks very much,” said Lorna, sweetly. “I’ll see you there.” It occurred to her, as she went and lay down on a red plush couch in the ladies’ rest room, that perhaps she would not. Perhaps ho knew that the game was up, and he would go while the going was good. Possibly some ship bound for Australia would bavo a name on its passenger list to-morrow — not “Hawksford” possibly—but Hawksford would be aboard it, looking his last at the native land he had betrayed. She couldn’t be sorry, Lorna thought as she lay there, eyes closed, her shaken body grateful for the rest. But suppose he.didn’t go? The thought jerked her into wakefulness again. Perhaps he really thought he had deceived her, and ho would go on with the job! She must find out where Gulliver’s Bay was.

She got up and went in to the inner sanctum and on the pretext of powdering her face, asked the woman in charge: “Can you toll me whore Gulliver’s Bay is?” The woman looked blank.

“I never heard of it in these parts,” she said. “Unless it’s out Sumner way, perhaps.” “Where is Sumner?” said Lorna.

“That’s away out of town toward Lyttelton,” said the woman, looking at her as though she was mad. “I’m a stranger here,” Lorna explained. “And I wanted to know where it is—l thought you might know.”

“I’ve not heard of it hereabouts.” The woman shook her head.

Uorna thought of the various places to which she might go to find out. The Pul?Hc Library—there must certainly be onei But supposing she went out and

By, PEARL BELLAIRS. ::

A Serial Story of Spies.. Adventure and Love.

(Copyright).

Hawksford saw her, after she had said sue would lie ciown until service cai went? erne must do notmng to arouse ms suspicions. 'Alien slie recollected that slie liad seen a Government .Louiistr liureau m the square. Alley must nave they would be able to tell her. bhe could slip m there on her way to the garage, and even if liawKsfoiu chanced to see her slie could explain ner visit away by saying she wanted a oooklet about ivaikoura. The oppression of her position was setting up a nightmare fear of him m her. bhe lay down and waited until ten minutes to two, with every nerve 'on edge. Then she went out, hurried along the main street to Cathedral- Square, aiid went into the Tourist .bureau.

“1 want some information about Ivaikoura, please,” she told the clerk, breathlessly.- She drummed on the counter with nervous fingers while he brought a small illustrated leaflet. ; “Can you tell me where Gulliver’s Bay is?” “It’s somewhere up there, isn’t it?” the clerk said. “At Kaikoura?” Her heart gave a jump. “That’s right. Gulliver’s Bay is somewhere in the Ivaikoura. district, isn’t it?” the clerk appealed to his fellow worker at one of the desks. They both went with her to a map on the wall which showed the names of all the smaller places. . . And there it was, sonie five*miles from Kaikoura, on a coast sprawled with the centipede markings of mountainous country. “There’s nothing there,” the second clerk informed her. “You can’t get. a car through; it’s no use for camping, there isn’t a road.”

“There might be a track,” suggested the first clerk. “No, there isn’t a track fit for a car. It’s all rough bush. I was through there hiking the year before last,” the second clerk assured her.

“Thank you,” said Lorna, breathlessly. She walked out into the street. So it was Kaikoura; to-morrow they would all be there—unless l*ei had. made a timely escape. “Heaven send he has!” Lorna said, suddenly, to herself, lifting her eyes to the bright point on the spire of the catheral across the Square. To continue the thing to the end would be so horjrible. She pictured herself in the witness-box, giving evidence, Hawksford in the dock on trial for espionage. How the thing would stir up this sleepy, matter-of-fact little country, if it should come to that! “He may be gone!” she told herself, “Perhaps he’ll never be seen again, and that will he the best thing that could happen!” But as soon as she came round the corner, she saw him there, big and nonchalant in his tweeds, waiting for her outside the entrance to the garage.

“YOUR APPALLING RUDENESS.”

• Tine battered .car was left behind to have the mudguards straightened, and the shattered windscreen replaced. The two seats obtainable on the service car wtere at -different ends of it, and Lorna found herself in the front, while Hawksford was ini the back. She was glad of this relief, and sat with her eyes closed as the car, zoomed swiftly along the dusty road, winding by plain and pass the river gorge into the blue north-west. She. was beginning to stiffen up with sundry little aches and bruises after her fall into the flax bush. At Han men. - at last, she climbed wearily out, and went to tine garage to explain that she had. had a mishap with the car she had hired. The owner seemed to take it as a matter ol course ; so 'long as the repairs were carried out competently, he had nothing to say. The insurance would cover the cost.

“Coming from England you wouldn’t be used to our rail crossings,” lio said. “They’re doing work no>v, all over the country, making them safer —building bridges and that. But there are accidents a-plenty on them still.” Without further thought, Lorna allowed Hawksford to get the ear to drive her up to the Shanes, He would be on duty next morning; he seemed to assume'that he should drive her up. It never occurred to hqr when they arrived at tho white house among the pines in the late afternoon that it might have been wiser to come back as she had 1 gone —alone. “Thank you!” she said, as she got out of the car. He nodded, with a slight smile. That was all. Nothing was said which indicated how much was known to them both, or all that had happened while sliei was away {Breathless with the knowledge of it, she went into the house, and left him to put the car into- the garage. There

(To be continued)

was no room for him at the Shanes’, and she assumed lie would walk the mile back into town and stay at his hoarding-house overnight. Mrs Shane greeted her with cheerful effusion and evidently had no doubts at all about her excuse for staying so long in town. Lorna’s pale and exhausted appearance suggested sessions with a dozen dentists.

“You poor thing, you look frightful!” cried Mrs Shane. “You must go and lie down immediately. Did he take it out?”

Lorna merely shook her head and said:

“1 have luad rather a. trying time!” (Which was true, and now the excitement was over, she had! a double distaste for lying). Miss Mams greeted her bluntly as usual:

“Well, I’m glad you’ve managed to get here at last!” She did not miention the dentist at all, which w,as a relief to'Lorna, bur it surprised her; because for all her sarcasms and bluntnesses, Aunt Hilda was the kindesi Mb man in the world. Mrs Shane provided a refreshing cup of tea- in the rose and white drawingroom, but it was all that Lorna could do to hold her tea r cup because of a growing stiffness in her elbow. Miss Marris calmly continued her wool tapestry, and described the warm sulphur baths in which slie and Mrs Shane had bathed in the opien air before breakfast that morning. # ' Later when Lorna was dressing for dinner, there was a tap on her door and Miss Marris caniie in.

Lornai hastily drew the sleeves of her negligee over her arms to hide hey elbow, which was swelling up into a strange soft blister not much smaller than a golf ball; she must have struck her elbow-when she was thrown out of the ear, and she knew that she could hardly expect Miss Marris to believe she had hurt it at the dentist’s. Miss Marris began by closing the door with a certain deliberation. There was a patch of red: oin her forehead which always told of the suppression of strong feeling. “Ah!” thought Lorna, “Now, what is coming?” She sat down at the dressing table to save having to take whatever was coming standing up. “I feel I must say what I think!” said Miss Marris. She had changed for iinner and looked very gaunt and somewhat incongruous in slate grey lace.

“Yes", aunt,” said Lorna. _ “I feel that your behaviour is so utterly disgraceful that this time I can’t let it pass! Disgraceful to vour father, to me, to your fiance—apart from your appalling rudeness to Mrs Shane’, who so kindly asked you here.”

The characters in this story are entirely imaginary. No reference is intended to any living person or to any Dublin or private company.