YOUNG HEARTS

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 168, 17 July 1924, Page 14

YOUNG HEARTS

By EFFIE ADELAIDE ROWLANDS. CHAPTER XXII. The house which Marcus Davis had taken for Mrs. Orland for the summer months proved everything that was delightful. Georgette did not go down with her mother and Diana. She clung to London till the last, because of the opportunity of meeting Sir Peter Shirley, but she was to join them a little later on. It must be confessed that Georgette was not easy in her mind where her mother was concerned. It irritated her beyond measure to feel that she must be always on the spot to keep Mrs. Orland up to the mark. If she had not been perfectly convinced that Diana Orland was now abso- I lutely safe as far as their schemes were i concerned, she would have been much j more worried than she was. j As a matter of fact, after Diana and her stepmother had been established in the delightful country house, a marked change for the better in the girl's physical condition came about almost directly. One of the causes of her recent chauged look and wasted appearance wa3 the fact that Diana had been sleeping very badly. Away from tbe town, a great rest seemed to fall upon her , tired brain and agitated nerves. Had I Georgette been on the scene she would , have noticed this at once, but Mrs. Orland I wrapped in thoughts 9 of herself, being; indeed much worried by a mysterious ; trouble which had cropped up in her j life and which was as yet unknown to | her daughter and Marcus Davis had | drifted back into something like her former attitude towards her stepdaughter. Relieved of the fear of Diana coming into contact with Peter Shirley or any of the Orland people, Mrs. Orland relaxed her close watch on the girl. And yet, paradoxically, Diana was far more valuable to her in a sense now than ' she had been, and it was far more im- : portant that she should keep a strong ' hold on the girl than it had been be- . fore. j Indeed, had it not been that Georgette | was so anxious to divide Diana and Peter Shirley, there had been on the j surface practically nothing for Mrs. Orland to gain by binding Diana to her in. the way she had done during tho ! last few months, for, after all, the girl j would not come into her own money for nearly two years or so, and if she were to marry, then of course her stepmother would have no share in that money at all. Georgette's intuition, however, had not been wrong. There were various matters hidden from her about which she ought to have been told, and had her mother been frank and open with her it would have been far better for both of them. As it was, she was in ' total ignorance that a very dark cloud had risen on the horizon of their prosperity, a cloud which was growing darker and more forbidding every day. Left to herself, therefore, to a large extent, Diana seemed to wake gradually from a curious dream which, had been about her for a long timo. She spent hours under the trees, and slept the greater part of the time. Nature acted as a great restorer. When she met Mrs. Orland at lunch or tea or dinner, a certain nervousness ! would come over the girl, and she would I find herself looking at the woman who ! sat at the head of the table, wondering | vaguely at the curious expression which ] had come over the beautiful face, and j particularly at the strange and reckless way her stepmother's eyes would wan- ' der to the door, as if she were cxpect- [ ing someone to come in suddenly; and I as health and strength crept slowly back Jto the girl's wasted frame, so her mind I and her nerves became readjusted. A | little while before she had lived like jan automaton, following directions, and not grasping really anything that passed j about her, but as a- merciful sense of l tranquility came over her tired body, and her still more tired brain, something of the old Diana began to wake in her; and every now and then she would find herself asking questions, questions which she could not answer. She and her stepmother had the house to themselves for nearly three weeks, and then Georgette came down from London, and with her travelled one or two other people. Lady Margaret Durrant, to her great regret, was unable to accept Mrs. Orland's invitation. She 3 met with a motoring accident, and had to stay for some time in a nursing home; but she wrote frequently to Diana, and, instead of discarding the letters as she had done in town, and leaving them unopened, the gh-l would carry them with her when she went to sit under the trees, and would read them gladly. And little by little her heart began to turn towards her own people, and she began to wonder why she never saw or heard from Peter. That unpleasant scene in the drawingroom of the big London house had never really remained in Diana's memory. Nothing that had happened while she was in London had been clear to her. Everything was confused and painful, and sometimes she would sit forward with her heart beating wildly, and try to clear away the confusion from her brain, and grasp, if possible, what had really been happening with her. " When Georgette Delvine came On the scene, it needed only a glance at Diana to let the older girl realise that Diana was absolutely changed. She.went, of course, at once to discuss this with her mother, but to her surprise and consternation Loretta Orland turned upon her almost savagely. "I told you when we were in London that I could not and would not go on with it! It has made mc ill My own nerves are all shattered with the strain and I've got to think of myself. Do what you like, I'm through !" And for once in a way Georgette found it impossible to say anything. She could only denounce herself and call herself a fool for not having travelled down from London and having kept a strict watch on her mother. For, after all, what good had she done by staying iv London 1 She had seen Peter Shirley twice, and each time she had felt that he had drifted farther and farther away from her. In fact, the last time they bad been together she had read something in his expression which told her that he trusted her no longer. She flounced away from her mother's room and went to her own. and there sat down and thought things out. And her determination was soon made. If her mother had gone back on the plan that had worked so successfully she would carry on ! For on one point she was now fully decided, and that was to bring about this marriage between Lyndhurst and Diana! Though she knew (for she was no fool) that she had now no chance, with Peter Shirley, she was resolved to pay him out for his indifference and the bitter hurt this j indifference signified to her ;va« 51 "" (aid J to her ambitions. A

She now began to hate him. There was a fury in her heart when she thought of him. To punish him in some way would be henceforward the one big aim in nW existence ; and in what way could she punish him more than by forcing on this marriage with Lyndhurst ? Georgette laughed harshly as this thought came. Henry Lyndhurst had come down with her from London, and he was going to stay on indefinitely. By now they thoroughly understood one another. He was as much in earnest as she was, and together it would be very strange if they could not manage to settle matters the way they meant them to go. Mr. Lyndhurst, as shrewd in his way as Georgette, was considerably upset to find Miss Orland bo much better. Diana received him coldly. She did not even give him her hand ; she merely bowed. She was not quite sure in her mind why she disliked this man, she only knew that Lyndhurst waa personally very disagreeable to her, and she found'herself shrinking from him and from Georgette Delvine and the other people whom Georgette had brought down* as guests. She resolved to keep to herself entirely, to have no intercourse with these people, but she could not forget them. The delightful old house was spoilt by the arrival of all these unsympathetic people. The rest and tranquillity, the beauty of the surroundings, vanished when Diana felt that she had to share them with Georgette and Lyndhurst, and these others. When she had first come down to the country. Diana had always sought her stepmother's companionship ; now she found herself almost dreading the hours when she had to meet Mrs. Orland. She was only comfortable when she was alone in her own rooms, and since she had left London* a new maid had been engaged to attend her. Diana was in total ignorance that this maid had been sent by her aunt. Lady Margaret Durrant, and engaged by the housekeeper, who had relieved Miss Delvine of all matters appertaining to the staff, and of all household things in general. Lady Margaret had herself written to this housekeeper and asked that this maid might be allowed to attend her niece, and the housekeeper, who was a very • nice woman and had been very deeply interested in Diana's strange condition, at once fell in with the suggestion. This maid was Quite a week or ten days with Diana before the girl began to realise what an immense solace and comfort she was. Oddly enough, she had never missed Bessie." and was entirely ignorant that the girl had been writing despairingly to Sir Peter Shirley asking him if she could not be taken back into Miss Orland's services. Tt was evident to these two. Lady Margaret and Peter Shirley, that it was becoming very necessary to have some one about Diana who could report exactly the girl's condition to them. Thcv had thought of Bessie, but then Shirley had quickly come to the conclusion that this would be a bad move. The girl had evidently been sent away by either Mrs. Orland or Georgette, and it would not be easy to reinstate her, but both Sir Peter and Lady Margaret were very kind to Bessie, for they appreciated the maid's anxiety and her loyalty. „ . The servant whom they finally decided to get into the Orlands' household was one who had been in Lady Margaret's service for a good many years. "I can trust Ann Morgan to give us absolutely tho truth." Lady Margaret said to Sir Peter. "I am beginning to feel that there is something mvstenous in this curious condition in which the child lives. Ann will be able to report to us and keep watch. lam not at all satisfied, Peter ! Indeed. I am very unhappy about Diana. You say Miss Delvine reports that doctors have seen Diana, but what doctors ? Does she dive you their names! Can we have their reports * " When the motor accident occurred and Lady Margaret could not go to Devonshire she broke down completely, and Peter had great difficulty in comforting There were many others belonging to Diana who were 'concerned about the girl's welfare, but no one who had such I close interest a* Lady Margaret Durrant. and the young man gave her the tenderness he would have given to Diana's mother. Ann Morgan's frequent letters reporting the improvement in Diana were very consoling to her aunt and to the man who loved her. . Tlie maid had been given a full account of all that had passed while Diana had been in London, and she had been prepared to deal with a great deal of hysteria and unhappiness, but she reported that she had found Miss Orland entirely free from hysteria and growing a little stronger every day. 4 With the arrival of Miss Delvine, however, the maid was quick to notice that her mistress was both disturbed and troubled. When she went among the other servants, she heard a good deal of gossip and comment, and it was not long before the Tumour reached her that Henry Lyndhurst was "making ■up to Miss Orland" and that Miss Delvine was keen on helping him. Ann Morgan took a violent dislike to Mrs. Ofland's daughter. She had promised Lady Margaret to send a faithful account of all that passed, and to give.her actual impressions; and in one letter she wrote: "I can't help thinking, my lady, that there is something going on which is difficult to understand. One thing's sure, Miss Delvine is no friend to Miss Orland! I find her a very objectionable young person, and I can't quite make her mother out! Mrs. Orland is so strange in her ways, I sometimes wonder if she takes drugs. She stays in her rooms for days at a time, and leaves her daughter to rule over everything. The servants tell mc that Mrs. Orland is considerably changed. That she's grown much older, and that instead of being always with Diana as she was in London, she seems to avoid her." And then Ann Morgan wrote about Henry .Lyndhurst. "I don't know if your ladyship knows him, but he is a young man that is very thick with Miss Delvine, and seems to be. paying a great deal of court to Mis 3 Diana, and she hates him! She spoke about him to mc only last night. She seems to resent him being in the house. I don't find anything at all strange about Miss Diana now, my lady, and she's certainly much, much better in health than she was. I think it would please,you very much indeed to see her as she looks now. She goes for walks with mc, and once or twice she has bathed, but she won't mix with the others; she keeps to herself." At the end of the letter, Ann Morgan wrote: # "Last" night Miss Diana spoke to mc about her father. It was very sad to listen to her, but there was nothing queer about her; all that your ladyship spoke to mc about seems to have gone. I wish to goodness she could be with you; I wonder it could not be managed somehow?"

Lady Margaret sent this leter direct to Sir Peter Shirley. It gave him immense pleasure, and yet it aroused in him anger, distress and fear. He had not tried to disguise from Georgette Delvine his belief that she was not playing a straight game with him. In fact he had got tired ox listening to her evasions and excuses, and had grown much more tired of her oppressive demands on his friendship. Little by little he was beginning to realise that she had been making a fool of him. This naturally annoyed him, but all personal feeling was merged in his anxiety about Diana. The knowledge that Ann Morgan was with the oirl, that Diana was turning to this maid, and that there was some one to watch over her and take proper care of her, was a very great consolation to Peter, but it did not fill the aching void in the young man's heart, nor did it satisfy his anxiety about their future, and the mere suggestion that Lyndhurst should be admitted to the house, and was permitted even to approach Diana, lashed him into a fury. He resolved that he had been patient long enough, and when next he went to sec Lady Margaret he told her that he was going down to the part of the world where the Orlands were now established; that ho would stay somewhere near, so that Ann Morgan could let him know when he could he of use in some way or other. He did not tell Diana's aunt that just to be near tlie girl, perhaps to sac her in the distance, would be a veritable joy to him, but Lady Margaret understood (his without words. He did not quite know where this house was situated which had been taken by Mrs. Orland, but it would be easy enough to travel down to that part of the world and establish himself in the neighbourhood. He considered it better not to lot Ann Morgan know of this plan till ho had found some place where he could be near Diana, and yot where he could be hidden from Georgette's sharp eyes. The fact being that Shirley wanted to be quite sure this time that Diana would be glad to see him. Ann Morgan's reports were certainly very hopeful ami also very encouraging, but he had not yet quite recovered from the shock he had received that day in London when Diana had sent him away with such determination. He could only pray that the recovery of which tbe maid spoke so earnestly was a sure and a steady one. Ho did not want to risk anything, but he wanted to be near Diana to satisfy himself (perhaps only by looking at her) that she was gradually getting back to health and strength, and that tlie nervous excitement which had been so painful to witness had gone for good. So one day he took a temporary farewell of Lady Margaret, and travelled to Exeter. From there he resolved to motor in the direction of Mrs. Orland's country house, and to keep his eyes open as he drove through the country, so that he could find some place where he could stay while he carried out his scheme of watching Diana and protecting her if necessary. For just to feel that he was close to her meant a certain happiness to the young man and helped to strengthen his hope for the future. (To be continued daily.)