YOUNG HEARTS

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 172, 22 July 1924, Page 15

YOUNG HEARTS

' ADELAIDE ROWLANDS. bi ** OHAPTKK XXVI. be «n taagiaed tie exciteB*» * a sense the satisfaction a»ons Diana's kinsfolk ffben .Peneral-s second α-arriige had ii4tti,e rs^ sinMU,rettaba4 "Itoefree'to marry any man. wm Davis had acted promptly ™d t and open action winch had to restate him in the good ®\ of the Orland solicitors. "Curse, everything that had passed L Bengal's supposed widow w riven tack to tie Orland estate, ** rtd» who acted for Her, did 118 - was no occasion whatsoever **£Z I£rf by the promise that fOf M riven to the woman sne hud *.£S W **r stepmother, for that vJT ginned was worthless from *, but Diana refuse Ikpi point « w j suction. an d to ponded by~her husband. Ls<iY Margaret, .««et 8"»tlo JBw»«"«f ewae ' ,Mherbest i said, "do you that- this creature very nearly Hffyou? We have the truth at Sf.&nt your strange illness. Un- j f* M X s he must have exercised a fiffiAttanonyou. There is no Xr elation for ail that pawed m If you can forgive her, f .(, Why, Diana. 1 don't believe JTtan the slightest idea how ill you W M°Diana only shcok her hcai. «j t >. all past and gone,' s~e said ••aid don't be angry *ith mc, Aon Mwgaret. but the fact «, : that toowallthat I said and did, I thin Sere was something rather sweet an pathetic about it. After aU, you knov f did love my I more tha loved him—l adored him! And just t have thought that I was doing thfor th»t" he wanted mc to do seem to m ° (even though I kn° w 1 was wron Md cruel to you and Peter) a ver Mtnral and pardonable thing. And the. tou must remember that 1 was no treated badly." And then, in , lower voice, Diana had added: "And yoi itiow darling, I am convinced that i Dvdarlin"- daddy were here on earth, h would be the first to make everytbin, ri»ht and safe for lieT. I" am airai< he was beginning to lose his faith ii ler and the illudon that liad come tMbl StiU, he would always have takei care of her, sad so, as he is not her* and she has nothing now, I must act to Mm. Perhaps Diana was the only one of tb Orlands who refused to believe tha Loretta had known of the existence o her former husband. ' She had no eausi to love the woman who had married he hther, but she was sorry for' her, am *ise enough to come to the concluaioi Hut in all probability it was the shod of the knowledge that Georgette , ! fatter was still alive which had sc changed the other woman She argued with Peter on the matter who was, of course, very easily convincec by her. "Yon see darling," she said, "Mtb Orland was a very practical woman, and I an convinced she would never have risked a second marriage even though if brought her so much, unless she beUeved that she was absolutely free to do it But it's quite a little romance, isn't it, Peter? Just fancy that little oli frenchwoman, Justine, living co clese to Sirs. Orland for so many years knowing (bit Mai Devline was alive, and never iisclosing the secret!" A little later Sana said, "I am awfully s rry for feorgette!" But here was just the one point on ihich Sir Peter could not quite agree ritb his wife. "I don't think I am," he said. "She ook mc in so very completely, and new hat I know her for what she really is, can't forgive her. I cannot forget he ■ reachery, and I simply hate her when remember her dreadful attempt to get ou married to Lyndhurst! Thank Qoanesa he's gone out of the country, nd I hope he'il stay away for some ac! Perhaps he'll marry an American f\ By the way, I did not tell v.to, i Ming, that Lyndhurst had the' im'rtinence to try to buy Hyde from c ' My old grandfather would have raed in bis grave if I had soli the 1 place. Where shall we live, Diana, Wiairey, or at Hyde ? We can't keep th places going, you know!" Arter a little pause Diana said: «ter, I don't want to go back to ratrey, and I want you to agree to a Sii.ni in J my mind - You fcnow m■• am Orlands are awfully po . r , and «y are so fond of the I—l to make over Winfrey to them ajnil _ enough money to ke p thinirs iZ } Bhall run the Hounds myself, ess, of coursse, you object, and we will « our home at Hyde." 'ir Peter had kissed her tenderly «erythmg that yon want! nd it ff eJF* p nfc for y° u to have |i<!ouains so near." mwiT ve 7 ?ood t0 mc - Peter ." t°a» am sure y° u k "ow ZnZT ]t used to be - a " d l "»=t «n my new one wjth noUUno , ndsntt" -0 ul to haunt mc " ,5s the young couple were * whe r rrV he Father S"m old "oJrtoiSitf, J , asper had lived in t° c. aeh gttful, cosy and beautiful ivLdft a A bCCn gkd when sh * lad n*»e alfl S oUnCement of Georgette's ie*ll ren< ? maid h a d S°™ back 1»1 her UP h " old dutieß *ta Delvi.T r / evotiori - She ond «scaldT 6 VDd iD a Httle house to P Se S " rleyhadtakenu P «ette ? s m^' eTy ample ailt >wance to iftedK 00, ? , and 8h « became very •,S ha, : fl sitting in a bath w g i t r ce f e d Up and down the ■'«?tte a SS?/ ,itt,eoldwomu,l "Si ? f her ' loßt had 4Zk^^ retta ' and m any people "«W to admira «on- and J her h * ho Bhc was - f <t she ■ 80 t PrOUdI y- and «.erS '"btedlvTt autocratlc about hei. «% (strangers told themselves) ijr"_ a wom an with a romantic ™ tea calmest way possible. She I

I never wished to see anyone, least of all her daughter Georgette, and Georgette was quite content that this should be so. In her way, very gradually there came over Georgette a sense of tranquillity, a sense of safety, and a sense of great satisfaction. She had an adoring husband, she possessed a handsome home, and a car, and all the rest of it, and though every now and then she would get a kind letter from Lady Siiirloy, in which both she aad her husband were invited to stay at Hyde, Mrs. Murcus Davis always found a ready excuse, and perhaps Diana would give a little sigh of relief when her invitation was not accepted. For herself, except that the memory of her dead father lived like a flame in her heart, Diana Shirley always declared that she was the happiest creature on earth, a truth which her young husband endorsed most emphatically. (The End.