The Maŕiage of Celia

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 57, 8 March 1934, Page 23

The Maŕiage of Celia

Author or By "Joan Fafrlle's Cross-roads," A ? MADGE BARLOW.

CHAPTER VL Robert and Celia, it was duly arranged, were to be married in London, and Sanna had offered Celia the hospitality of her flat, even curtailing her holiday to be with the girl, comforting her in bereavement, assisting her iii preparing for the great event. At least, that was Sauna's Tvay of presenting her motive to Lennox, and he accepted her c— .t gratefully. Celia leant so much upon her, was so eager that he should accept.

Mac disliked Sanna, and was not enthusiastic, but had no objection to the flat as a temporary refuge for the brideelect. What he did objcct to was Robert's intimation that on me evening of the wedding they two were to go to Ireland to wind up Mr®. Conor's affairs, leaving Celia in charge of Miss rercivale during their absence. "Do you mean to say you aren't taking your wife with you?" he demanded. And Robert's reply that Celia and Miss Percivale thought it would be unwise for her to venture the journey in her grief-stricken condition brought Mac's bushy brows down frowningly.

"She'd find it too harrowing to meet old neighbours and have to speak of licr mother," Robert added. "The few days' rest and quietness are absolutely necessary. She's highly strung, and has had a severe and unexpected blow, remember. She requires a woman's care, and is inclined to cling to Miss Pereivale." "You are the one she should cling to." "She does, she does, but the c-ircuni--6tances are exceptional." "Couldn't the wedding wait till we return "Celia won't hear of a postponement." "Then what's to hinder you and hei-r-Ding on your honeymoon after the ceremony and letting me attend to Mrs. Conor's trumpery affairs? Or you can attend to them yourself later. They're of no importance. According to you, she died practically a pauper." "Celia. wishes me to dispose of the furniture and pay any bills that may be due in the locality out of the proceeds of the sale. She refuses to allow me to forward a cheque to a solicitor."

"And is so concerncd about the tradespeople of Balbriggan that she delays her honeymoon in order that you in person may pay their tu'penny-ha'penny accounts. * Dashed queer of her!" "You make it seem queer. Look, Mac, she's in a low state of mind and body, and we must humour her. View this" idea in the proper perspective, and you'll quit cavilling. Celia wants to marry me at once, dear girl. She wants 1110 to do her errand, and while I'm doing it she'll be picking up strength for the journey to Red Craigs, where our slightly deferred honeymoon is to be spent. That's where she's keen to go —just home with

me. She's been talking of it very sweetly in that shy way of hers—an adorable way which twists me round her little finger and won't let me deny her anything. " Mac, you've got fo agree to C'elia's plan and Miss Percivale's." "Since you have agreed, my grousings are immaterial. Speaking of Miss Pereivale, who is she? A summer acquaintance?" "And an exceedingly kind friend. She's an illustrator of books and magazines, well known in artistic circles, and does a lot of work for' Hazlitt's. You've heard of Mazagines-for-the-Mil!ion Hazlitt?" "I should say! Isn't a nephew of his here ? A penurious fellow eating the crumbs that fall from Uncle Dives' table. The military chap prattled of him. By the bye, I've seen Miss Pereivale and young Avery whispering together in corners on several occasions. Not lovers, are they? She's years his senior." "They are not lovers', but she and Avery are fairly intimate owing to licr business connection with Hazlitt's.' McHaffie grunted an unintelligible rejoinder and lapsed into silence, musing on Dick's surly glances when his chance strayings in the vicinity of the whisperers had disturbed them, on Dick s undisguised hatred of Lennox, which Lennox did not seem to notice. The speeding of the marriage was driving Avery into a state of desperation, and his pent'emotions found a confidante in Sanna, whose sympathetic probings invited confidences. He left nothing" untold which concerned Celia and Himself. Under affectionate pressure,_ Celia was equally indiscreet regarding Dick and her own mixed feelings and self-questionings, «nd her desire to many Robert quicxly lest she should be tempted to break her promise to her mother. squeezed them dry, Sanna began to think Robert not wholly 'OSo to her, and set about improving the occasion. To Avery she pledged her support, and opportunity to plead his cause in her flat in Lisle Mansions up to the last moment. To Celia she ?>poke eloquently of the beauty of love matches and the sin of keeping promises which made one a traitor to love. She could have betrayed the girl to Lennox—would have if she had not sensed that men are all alike in one respect: their appetite for possession is whetted by rivalry. She had no grounds for supposing Lennox to be the rule's exception. He would probably take a Celia sacrificially willing to be taken, and cold-shoulder the meddler who had opened his eyes. Wasn t Dick twice as crazy over Celia now that the wedding was being rushed and his ■prayers and arguments railed to shake her resolution ? With his aid Sanna counted on wearing down the girl's resistance. He had ceased to talk of waiting; was aSame to wrest her from Robert ana seal her his. "Let's risk it on four quid a week, darling, darling!" ho besought her. intruding indecently on her sorrow, seizing every advantage her weakness and loneliness presented. ; And she would answer. "I can t listen. I mustn't listen!" and fly from him to encounter Sauna's soft-voiced but relentless persuasions. "You do love Dick, antl you'll be miserable with Lennox. Dick is your fitting mate, and you know lie is. Choose him while choice is yours, and I'll use influence to gain him promotion. Josh Hazlitt is nice to me. I were to beg Dick's promotion as a javour he'd grant it." , Sanna and Avery, on either side 01 '.)sr, coaxing and insisting, almost conTinced her that in fulfilling her raen promise she was sowing the seed 01 a ■ larvest of regrets. If she were, how '/ould she* endure the reaping time. It hurt her to hurt Dick, jolliest of 'playfellows and companions. Was that i\ proof of love? Was the fact that Banna's pleadings and his still od a responsive chord in her thrilled heai . unnthor proof? ~ , The thought of belonging to Robcil thrill Tit. scared. Yet he was goo<. t- N k<ir, ail goodness and kindness, am tried to be to him everything His,

affianced wife should be; did it so effectually that he never suspected the had to try. Their final days nt the Beverley drew to a closo with alarming rapidity, and Co.lia was still torn between inclination and resolve not to yield to it when the London express whirled them out of the seaside town. Dick had gone the night before, in a violent temper, after bitter upbraidings which whitened and pinched her face. She and Sanna, Robert and Mac. travelled in company. Sauna wished Mac a thousand miles away. Resentful of his habit of studying her, she styled him "the watchdog," and her manner to him was as disagreeable as she dared make it. On reaching St. Pancras, Robert said he had ordered a table to be reserved for a dinner party of four at the Midland Grand, where lie and McHaflie purposed engaging rooms; but Sanna promptly negatived the proposal, and bade him see to the delivery of the luggage. Celia, she declared, was exhausted, and ought to go straight to tlio llat and to bed. "Are you very tired, Miss Conor?" Mac asked pointedly. "I—l think I am," she faltered. "Under Miss Percivale's thumb, or shares her anxiety to be rid of us," he commented inwardly. Sanna raced them to the cab ranks. Robert hoped she might invite then to look in for a few minutes that night, and he was disappointed. He could come in the forenoon, she said, curtailing the adieus. He snatched a kiss, had a few words with Celia, and the taxi started. "Managing lady, Miss Percivale," Mac grimaced. "She's careful of Celia," replied glum Robert. "Astonishingly careful. It wouldn't have harmed Miss Conor to eat her dinner with us. AVe'll have a taxi as. well." "But we are putting up at the Midland." "Not on your life! We'll select our digs nearer to Lisle Mansions; next door to the flat if we can, you great goat!" "Why am I a great goat:" "Because you can't help it," said Mac, irascibly. "You were born one."

CHAPTER VII. Robert laughingly humoured Mac, and they procured suitable accommodation not two hundred yards from Lisle Mansions. The same night, towards ten o'clock, McHaflie strolled along the street to view the block which housed Sanna Percivale. He knew her number, and that she lived on the second floor. To bo quite certain, ho mounted tho stairs and saw her nameplate. The crimson glow of a hall lamp illuminated the fanlight of the vestibule door, and all lier windows looking on the street gleamed golden. Crossing to the opposite pavement, he gazed up at them, and while he stood there Dick Avery passed in and ascended the stairs. He could not mistake Dick's lithe frame, the handsome, moody face, plainly discernible under the bluish-white effulgence of arc lamps. Avery did not lift his eyes or he could have seen McHaflie; he kept them bent downward.

"Thought as much," Mae grunted. "Major Joicey put me wise just a bit. Tho Joicey types have their uses. That young Lothario was expected, so we got shunted. Hello!" C'elia's prolile silhouetted on one of the buff coloured linen blinds caused the ejaculation. Her strikingly pretty profile and fluffy hair were at oncc recognisable. She hadn't retired to bed —hadn't been too exhausted to Bit up awaiting Avery. The silhouette of Dick was then flung on the blind. He and Celia were talking, seated apparently on something low —a conch stupidly placed for amorous converse. Their attitude, their closeness to each other, were more than friendly. They were so close it seemed their lips must inevitably meet and kiss. They did meet. Now she was drawing back, shaking her head, hand raised; and Dick caught the hand and crushed it to his lips. McHaffis swore to relieve his feelings. Believing that he and Robert were at a safe distance, the mice were playing with a vengeance. Miss Conor loved Avery, and Avery was an utter ineligible, therefore she was about to marry Robert, who could give her money and position. It was done daily, and people approved such deeds, the Church blessed them, nobody thought a penny the worse of mercenary girls who bartered love for gold. One girl, he determined, should not be permitted to do it. He would tell Robert what he had seen and leave him to act as he pleased. Considering the possible cffect 011 Robert, he was sorry he had come out to bo a witness of perfidy which proved the truth of the Major's insinuations. With a dark glance at tho actors in the shadow drama, he turned on his heel. Celia had toppled from her lofty niche to the level of women ranking low in his estimation. Her bewitching air of innocence cloaked a deceit common to her sex. She was no different. She deserved no pity, he said. But the prosaic breakfast hour sapped his courage, tied his tongue. Robert's mood was merry, and, seeing the wonderful alteration in him, Mac hesitated to blight his happiness everlastingly. Were he to expose Celia, he would condemn Robert to lifelong wretchedness, and deliver him up to the bloodiness which, if persisted in, would spell monomania and certain disaster. . AVero he to say nothing, she as Robert's wife, forget Avery and learn to love her husband. She was young, pliable, unaccustomcd to intrigue, and under the dangerous influence of Sanna. Removed from Sanna, she might change. ■\t any rate, she would lift Robert out of himself and stimulate him. Ho had 110 doubt that Miss Percnale invited Avery to the flat, and that she and Ilazlitt's nephew were 111 league to prevent the marriage. According Major Joicev, Celia and Dick were lovers before Robert took the field Of course •Vvery was fighting tooth and nail to win the girl, but how could it benefit Miss Perch-ale to help him win? Did she want Robert for herself? „ , , "Shouldn't be surprised, he reflected. "She aims to overthrow Miss Conor and catch his heart in the rebound, ohe d A i f the psychological moment found te,'™<l P Betteral» UM Craig, than yon woman. I won t interfere, _le I toss Rob out of the frying-pan into twisting your face horribly,"

in my <hro,t." l.c replicU. "Try a drink of police. Shall I thump you on the back?"

"No, thanks." Mac drained his cup and composed his features. "The co(Too has done the trick. Have you to-day's programme sketched?" "I am fetching Celia to buy the ring, and you'll be left to your own devices till lunch." "Don't heed me. I'll amuse myself, and in the afternoon when Celia's had a sickening of you we'll interview the personage who issues special licenses, and blushingly submit to his catechising. A fair, snir business is this getting married, even though you slink through it quietly." "You'll be. best man?" "Of a truth, and endeavour to endure i the bridesmaid." I "I can't account for your dislike of Miss Percivale." "Attribute it to natural cussedncss." "You have something 011 vour mind, Mac." "I have you and your Irish jaunt. I'm wishing you'd take your wife with you in place of me." "I'd jump at the exchange, but Celia's will is law." "Celia's will is wax for your moulding." "I toll you the matter is definitely settled." "An early start, Robert, may save you future henpecking." . Robert grinned boyishly, and retorted that old Mac could discipline his own wife when lie got one. "Oh, all right. Never say I didn't warn you." was the reply, uttered whimsically to avoid a deep seriousness. "My compliments to Miss Conor, and a hope that she rested well last night." Robert went off in high feather. The ring-fitting was a sheer joy with Celia beside him, sliding her finger into golden hoops and growing pink beneath the gaze of the jeweller and his assistant. They bought presents for Sanna and Mae, and Robert chose a pearl necklace and other adornments for his bride-to-be which made Celia open her blue eyes very widely and express a fear that he was spending too much. She kept tugging his sleeve and murmuring that lie was extravagant and she'd be afraid to wear anything so grand, her expostulations delighting him. He loved the plucking of those small fingers, the standing 011 tiptoe to whisper in his ear with bated breath. They carried their presents away in a hired motor, and Celia sat rucking her forehead. "I ought to buy something for you, and I haven't money enough," fibe said, gravely. "Money couldn't buy the present I covet," said he, fondling her hand. "You haven't kissed me yet. You let me take kisses, but have given none. What about beginning?" "Would you —would you wait a little longer?" she blurted out, the scorch of her face drawing tears. "Do I frighten you, Celia I" "No, no. It isn't that. It's just—" "Just modesty, you dear, wee girl—a quality so rare that its value nowadays is above rubies. I'll wait a while, and the kisses will be doubly sweet when they come." Miss Percivale had told him Colia had eaten hardly any breakfast, and he took her to Romano's for an early lunch. "London is beautiful,' she sighed, looking around her admiringly while he consulted the menu. "We'll visit it often if it has cast its spell over you," he said smilingly. "Don't imagine I'm going to bury you in tha country among wild moors and mountain peaks." "I thought you would," she cried, sparkling eyed. "You thought a husband was a sort of gaoler, eh?" "Plenty of them are," nodding sagely. "Heaps." "Celia, you haven't grown up," lie averred. "You are about twelve years of age in vour ideas of men." "My father was my mother's gaoler," she said, the sparkle fading. "And I knew others who weren't much less." "You won't find me imitating then:. Why, baby, the happily married woman has more freedom than the whole bunch of emancipated bachelor women. She s a queen. You'll be my queen, doing as you please, with none to question your authority or call you to order." "That," said CeTTa, slanting one blue orb towards the ceiling and curving her lips deliriously, "that will bo very nice indeed." "Except when I, your king, am naughtily flouted and driven to protest," he slvlv added. And the contemplative eye sank to his face, full of reproach. Watching her, he felt bewitched, madly hungry for the kiss denied. She ravished his senses. (To be continued daily.)