SHE LOVED HIM.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 207, 30 August 1905, Page 11

SHE LOVED HIM.

j By CHA-BXES GAEVTCE, ; Author of "The Marquis. "Claire," ! "Lorrie," Elaine." etc j CHAPTER XXXVl.—(Continued.) I At first she never went into the i streets without dreading that she i should see him. but as the days and ! months rolled on without their meeting, I her fear wore itself out, and though J she thought of him day and night, longed for him with a longing that somei times blinded her with the tears j which fell upon her work, she had come | to regard him as indeed separated from : her by the unbridgable chasm of death. In her plain black dress, and closely ! vpiied, she attracted little attention as i she went to and from the shop -with her ! work, and her quiet, reserved manner . exacted a respect from the proprietor which he did not always accord to the i rest of his workpeople. Some of them, ! for instance, were kept waiting in the ! room at the back of tbe shop an uneonI seionable time, but Bessie was always attended to directly she arrived, and the prices she was paid were higher | than most of the women obtained. Ini deed, this was only fair, for sbe bad 1 brought to her work all the intelligence • and taste with which she was endowed, : and Lil herself had never wrought more j beautiful blossoms and leaves than j those which were formed by Bessie's | white fingers. She worked hard, often with a head | that ached as badly as her heart, but I the work, as it always does, brought her I comfort and consolation, and distracted ; the sad thoughts which, when her i hands were idle, always flew back to the 1 happy past which seemed now to her ! an impossible dream. ! On the morning Clyde had run up to i Mr Levi's, she was carrying to the shop ; a larger amount of work than usual, for j she had been working hard to earn a j | little extra money wherewith to buy a ; | wreath for Lil's grave. She had set ■ ] her heart upon some white, sweet- ! i scented blossoms to lay above the sleep- j ing child who had loved them so dearj ly when she was alive; and as she went i along quietly, with her eyes upon the ground, she was calculating the amount i she ought to receive, and wondering whether it -would be enough. 1 Mr Ford, the proprietor of the place, ! opened the box and turned out the con- \ tents upon the table carefully, and nodded approvingly. "Very pretty, very pretty indeed, I Miss Harewood," lie said. "Almost as natural as the real thing; but they want the scent, don't they?" and he smiled. He had always a smile for the beauti- | ful young lady—he saw too many ladies in the course of his business not to re- ; cognise Bessie as one, although she j made artificial flowers for her living. "Yes." said Bessie, in her low, sweet ; voice. "I am glad you like them." "Yes,'' he nodded, "they're very good. Dear mc. if I was to put them in the ; window of my other place where I sell real flowers, I don't think many people •would know the difference." ■ Bessie looked rather surprised, and he :nodded and laughed. ! "Didn't know I had a real flower shop, did you? Well, I have; get the swells either way, you see. Miss Harewood— those who want the real and those who want the make-believe." He mentioned one of the principal flower I shops in the West End. "That's my place,"' he said, "and I do as large a ; business almost there as I do here." I Bessie listened with faint interest, little guessing what important results would spring from tbe man's communi- | cativeness. ! "I am going to buy some real flowers," i she said half absently. I "Yes?" he said. "Want '"em fcr copies ? Quite right. Always go to nature. Miss Harewood. Let mc see, br>w much do these come to." He made a calculation, and handed her the money. It was rather less than she had expected, but she thanked him in her usual j sweet way. "If you're wanting some I real blossoms," he said, "you may as well go to my place. Here," and he • wrote something on a piece of paper, i "give that to the manager. Pve toid . him to give you a bunch or two. Oh,

all right. Miss Harewood, don . mention it. Always giad to do anything for j yon." And as Bessie flushed and thanked i him again, and lowering her veil went ; out, he stood with the artificial flowers i in his hand and looked after her. i "I wonder who and what she is, j now?" be mused- "A lady for certain; and she's had a rough time of it. Yon can see that by the look in her eyes and the way she smiles. I'm glad I sent her for those Sowers." Bessie went straight to the other j shop, and handed her paper to the I manager. The place was almost ever- ■ powering with the scent of the blosi soms with which the window and the j counters were full, and Bessie stood t looking round her and—thinking of the | -wild flowers at Lendale of which she had made posies for Clyde's buttonhole! The manager seemed - terribly busy and somewhat put out, but he waa polite and respectful enough to Bessie. "Half a moment, miss," he said in the middle of hurried direction he waa I giving to a couple of girls who were I arranEang and packing blossoms in I boxes and baskets. "So busy this morning, don't know whether I'm on my I head or my heels. • What colour will I you have, miss? The governor doesn't j say." J "White, please," said Bessie. I "Right, miss." He took up a heap quickly but tenderly and spread them out. "There you are. Beauties ain't they? especially for this time of year. j You want 'em for copying, I suppose." I "N-o." said Bessie, her lips quivering. i She could not tell him that she wanted | them for a child's grave. "Beg pardon," he said. *_ thought ' perhaps you was one of the young I ladies that made flowers for the other place." ! "I am." said Bessie, with a smile. "Ah," he said, "thought so. .And I I i wish I was there instead of here!" and j | he sighed and looked bothered and wor- ; j rled. "Once you've sold a bunch of j j artificial ones your work's done; but ! j it's different here miss. You've got to send 'em home and arrange 'em; and j that's where the trouble comes in." j "And yet it is so easy to arrange ! such beautiful blossoms as these," said j Bessie gently. I "Easy, is it?" he said, shaking his head. "But it don't seem so. Leastways, it's difficult to please the customers: and out of half a dozen of my hands I can't rly upon more than two or three to do the thing right." He was putting the flowers he had chosen together in a basket as he spoke, and Bessie, slipping off her gloves, j said: "Please, don't trouble. I will do that, I and save your time." And she arranged the blossoms quickly. He had darted off. and engaged in an excited colloquy with one of the assistants, but he came back as the la3t I white dahlia was in its place and Bessie j was putting on her gloves, and he eyed ! the basket with approval and admiration. "Ah!" he said, with a wistful sigh. "That's something like. You've got the knack, I see, miss. It's tbe eye that does it. It's what I tell 'em. If yon haven't got the artistic eye you can't arrange flowers if you try all your life." "And yet it seems so easy," said Bessie. "If—if you will let mc." she added timidly, and with a faint blush, "I will arrange some for you. I —l am not in a hurry, and I should like to do it." j The manager looked at her gratefully, I and after a moment's hesitation accepted her offer. "It's very good of you. miss!" he said. "Here, William, take that hamper of blossoms into the back: look sharpYou'll have more room there, miss, and be to yourself," he said to Bessie. "And I'm more obliged than I can say. fcr we're short-handed just now, and I don't know which way to turn." CHAPTER x * \ VIL .Teveral persons came into the shop while Bessie was at work in the.little back office arranging the flowers, and one or two glanced rather curiously at the graceful looking young lady who seemed so absorbed; but Bessie, really intent upon her delightful task, did not notice taem. Presently a hand-somely-appointed carriage drove up, and a lady richly—too —dressed got out and entered th _j shop, and in a loud voice commenced giving an order to ft&e manager. "To-morrow night, Mr Barker, please," Bessie heard her say. "And I want the place properly decorated, mindDon't send the young person who came | the last time, please; she had no noj tion of colour, and quite spoiled the | effect." "'Yes. ma'am," responded the manager, | but with an uneasiness and perplexity | that he could not altogether conceal. | "Now. mind that," said the lady. "I i won't have her. One of my servants ! could have arranged the flowers better." As she spoke she walked along the I shop, and came to -where Bessie stood bending over her work, and putting np her eyeglass eyed her curiously at j first, and then with decided approval. 1 "Dear mc," she said, "that's very | Pretty." And she looked down admrringJ ly at the large rustic basket which Besj sic had filled with dahlias and pom- ] pons, cunningly twining ivy and red Virginia creeper round the handles. "Very pretty. That's a hanging basket, I supj pose?" '"Yes. I tbink so," sad Bessie, with a | faint flush on her pale face. "Yes. it is very pretty indeed," said I the lady emphatically, and she went ! into the front shop and attacked Mr. | Barker again. | "That young person seems to know jwhafc she is about," she said, quite loud i enough for "the young person" to hear jher. "Why can't you send her, now? i I'm sure she would do very nicely. I've i not seen her here before. Is she a new I assistant ?" | "Yes—that is, oh yes, madam, quite : new.'' murmured the badgered man. "Very well. I shall expect you to ] send her," said the lady, and she went I out and was rolled away in the handj some carriage. Mr Barker drew a long breath aa he looked after her. "There goes one of my most troublesome customers," he said to Bessie"That's the great Mrs Masham, the millionairess; and she's the most, difficult I lady to please that ever I knew. Quite 1 mad about flowers, too. And Pve got j to scent and decorate her rooms at j Queen Anne's Gate to-morrow for a ball, i and who Fm going to send " He stopped, and looked at Bessie anxiously . . and doubtfully. "'You heard what she said. I suppose, miss ?" "Oh. yes, I heard," said Bessie, with a smile and a blush. "You see, she thought yon were one of our young ladies, and—and I wish to goodness you were, for you seem to have a born knack for the work," ho added, looking at Bessie's basket. "I— I suppose, you wouldn't care, that is— well, you heard what she. said, sad

what I agreed to? I suppose you wouldn't care to —just go and superintend the work? Fd send a man and £- young girl with you, miss, oi course." Bessie crimsoned, and stood with downcast eyes. "It's a kind of liberty, I know," said the distracted Mr Barker, "but I thought as you didn't mind working for the gaVnor in the artificial line, perhaps you wouldn't mind undertaking this job for mc. There's nothing—uuladylika in the work, and no one need know Anything about it except ourselves. Yea just go." he went on, seeing that Bessie hesitated, and did not give him a. prompt refusal, "you just go to tbe house—with the man and the girl—and see that the flowers are properly arranged. A couple of hoars would do it, and I," he glanced as the basket, "I should be prepared to offer you half a guinea, miss. It's—better pay thaa you'd get for artificial fiower making," he added as a eimeher. Bessie was silent for another momeaS or two, then .he looked up. "I —I shall not have to see any one, to s£eak to any one?" she said in » low voice. "Oh, Lor 5 , no, miss. Certainly not. You'll be quite like a lady, like a proI fessional artist, so to speak, with the man and girl under your orders. I'll tell you exactly what's to be done, and how to do it. It's easy enough if you've got the right eye, as you have, miss. Some of 'em will put blues and purples together, and make the place look like a greengrocer's shop at Christmas. And I've no fear that you 11 do that. No!" And he nodded at the basket again. Very well," said Bessie very quietly, "I will go." The roan's face cleared instantly. 'If you'll come here soon after dinner to-morrow, miss," he said, ""I'll have the Sowers and the man and girl ready, and j will tell you exactly what to do."' I It waa not only the half guinea which j had tempted Bessie, though on the ia- ! stant the man had mentioned the sum : she was to be paid she began to ealeulata ! how long it would be before she could earn enough to take her cut of England and away—far away—from any chance cf meeting Harry; it was not that alone, but the prospect of having so many hampera of the beautiful flowers to arrange how she pleased that proved irresistible. It was the only glimpse of pleasure that had come to her since the day she had been parted from her lover and husband, the only soft gleam of light in her dark and dreary life, and she had not enough strength to put it from her; and though during that evening she had several times almost decided to withdraw her promise, and write tha man some excuse, she did not, but presented herself at the shop early the next afternoon. (To be continued dally.)