THE DIVA'S RUBIES

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13583, 12 September 1908, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE DIVA'S RUBIES

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

BY F. MARION CRAWFORD. Author of " Arethusa," " Soprano," •" Zoroaster." etc.

CHAPTER XL—(Continued.) Tire vision of Mrs. Rushmore steering a Newport catboat was quite new to Margaret, and her lips parted in surprise. " Oh, yes, my child, we were very fond of sailing in those days," continued the elderly lady, pleased with her recollections. "I often got quite wet, I assure you, but I remember catching cold only once. I think it rained that day. My dear husband, I recollect, asked me to name the boat when ho bought it, and so I called it the Sea Mew." "The Sea Mew?" Margaret was mystified. " Yes. It was a eatboat, my dear. Cats often mow. You understand, of course. It was not very funny, perhaps, but I remember that my dear husband laughed, and liked the name." Margaret was laughing softly, too. " I think it's awfully good, you know," she said. " You needn't say it's not funny, for it's a very creditable little joke. Do you think you could steer a boat now? I'm sure I could never learn! Everything about sailing and ships is an utter mystery to me." " I daresay I could steer a. eatboat," said Mrs. Rushmore calmly. "I am sure I could keep a row-boat straight. Let me see—there's a thing you move—" " The rudder?" suggested Margaret. "No, my dear. It's not tho rudder, nor the boom, nor tho centre-board—how all the names come back to me! Yes, it is the tiller. That is tho name. When you know which way *.o move the tiller, it is quite easy to steer." " I fancy so," said Margaret gravely. " Most people move it tho wrong way when they begin," continued the good lady. " You see ' port' means ' left' and starboard means ' right.' But when you turn the tiller to the left ■ the boat goes to the right. Do you understand?" "It seems all wrong," observed Margaret; "but I suppose you know." " Yes. In the same way, when you turn tho tiller to the right the boat goes to the left. The great thing is to remember that. It is the same way with "weather' and 'lee.' I could show you if we were in a boat."

" I haven't ••doubt of it." Margaret said. "You're peiir»Jv amazing! 1 believe you are a regular sailor." "Ob, no," protested Mrs. Rushmore modestly; "but indeed I often took the eatboat out alone, now I think of it. I used to raise the sail alone— mean, I hoisted it. ' Hoist,' that is the proper word, I remember. I was quite strong in those days."

"Really, you are most extraordinary!" Margaret was genuinely surprised. " You'll astonish Mr. Van Torp when he hears your nautical language on the yacht! Fancy your knowing all about sailing! I knew you could swim, for we've often been in together at Biarritz— sailing! Why did you never tell me?"

" Shall we keep some tea for Countess Leven?" asked Mrs. Rushmore, changing the subject. "I fear it will get quite cold. Those English people never know when to stop walking. I cannot understand what they can see in it. Perhaps you will kindly touch the bell, my dear, and I will send the tea away. It can be brought fresh for her when she comes. Thank you, Margaret. But she will not come in till it .is just time to dress for dinner. Mark my words, my child, the countess will be late for dinner. All English people are. Have you heard from Monsieur Logotheti to-day?" "Not to-day," Margaret answered, repressing a little start, for she was .as near to being nervous as she ever was, and sho was thinking of him just then, and the question had come suddenly. "I think it is time yon heard from him," said Mrs. Rushmore, her natural severity asserting itself. "I should think that after those very strange stories in the papers he would write to you and explain, or come himself. By the bye, perhaps you will kindly pass me the Herald, my dear. What did you once tell me was the name of his yacht?" " The Erinna," Margaret answered, handing Mrs. Rushmore the sheet. " Exactly! I think that means the 'Fury.'"

" He told me it was the name of a Greek poetess," Margaret observed. " On account of her temper, I suppose," answered the good lady absently, for she was looking up and down the columns in search of something she had already seen. "Here it is!" she.said. "It is under tho yachting news 'Capo Finisterre. i Passed at 4 p.m., going south, steam yacht Erinna, with owner and party on board. All well.' My dear child, it is quite clear that if this is Monsieur Logotheti's yacht, he is going to Gibraltar.!' "I don't know anything about geography," Margaret said, and her,wrath, which had been smouldering sullenly for days, began to glow again. " Margaret," said Mrs. Rushmore, " you surprise me! You were very well taught— But the prima-donna did not hear the long tirade of mild reproof that followed. She knew well enough where Gibraltar was, and that Logotheti was going all the way round to the Mediterranean on his yacht with someone for company, and that the

voyage was a long one. After what Lady Maud hadsaid, there was not the least doubt in her mind as to his companion, who could be no one but Baraka. He had been told that he was not wanted at Bayreuth, and lie was celebrating the sunset of his bachelor life in his own way. That was clear. If he received the telegram that had just been sent to him, he would get it at Gibraltar, should he stop there, and as for answering it before Margaret left Bayreuth, she was inclined to make such a thing impossible by going away the next morning, it not that very night. , Her angry reflections and Mrs. Rushmore's lecture on the importance of geography in education were interrupted by the discreet entrance of Mr. Van Torp, who was .announced and ushered to the door by Justine in a grand French manner. On tho threshold, however, he stood still and asked if he might come in; being pressed to do so, he yielded, advanced, and sat down between the two ladies. " Mr. Van Torp, said Mrs. Rushmore, " I insist upon knowing what has become of Countess Leven." " I don't know, Mrs. Rushmore," answered the millionaire, slowly rubbing his hands. "I haven't spoken to her since I brought her from the station. I daresay she's all right. She's most probably gone to take. a walk. She often does in the country, I know—her father's country seat is next, to mine, Mrs. Rushmore. I hope you'll pay me a visit some day. Why, yes, Lady Maud sometimes goes off alono and walks miles and miles." "There, Margaret," said Mrs. Rushmore triumphantly, "what did I tell you? Mr. Van Torp says the countess often walks for miles and miles." "Why, certainly." said Mr. Van Torp, "though I'm bound to say she's just as fond of horseback. Her friends generally call her Lady Maud, Mrs. Rushmore. Perhaps you won't mind my telling you, as she prefers it a good deal herself. You see, I've had the pleasure of knowing her several years, so I daresay you'll forgive me for mentioning it." "I think it is quite kind of you, on the contrary," answered Mrs. Ruehmore. " Margaret, why did you never tell me of this? Had you any reason for not telling me?" "I don't think I noticed what you called her." Margaret answered patiently. " Because if you had any reason," said Mrs. Rushmore, following her own thoughts, "I insist upon knowing what it was.'' "Well, now, I'll tell you," rejoined Mr. Van Torp, to save Margaret the trouble of answering tho futile little speech, "her husband didn't. treat her very well. There's not a purer woman in the six continents, Mrs. Rushmore, but ho tried to divorce hor, because he'd lost his money, if he ever had any, and she has none, and he wanted to marly an heiress. However, they automobilised him, or something, in St. Petersburg last June." "Auto— what did you say?" inquired Mrs. Rushmore. "Killed by an automobile," explained Mr. Van Torp gravely. "But now I come to think, it wasn't that. He got blown up by a bomb meant for a better man. It was quite instantaneous, I recollect. His head disappeared suddenly, and the greater part of him was scattered round, but they found his pocket-book with his cards and things, so they know who it was. lb was driven through somebody else's hat on the other side of : the street, wasn't it, Miss Donne? Things must have been quite lively just then, where it happened. I supposed you knew." Mrs. Rushmore explained that sho had never heard any details. "Besides." said Mr. Van Torp, in answer though not quite relevantly, "everybody always calls her 'Lady Maud' instead of 'Countess Leven,' which she has on her cards." "She would naturally use tho higher ' title," observed Mrs. Rushmore reverently. "Well, now, about that," objected Mr. Van Torp, " I'm bound to say I think the daughter of an English earl as good as a Russian count, anywhere west of Siberia. I don't know how they figure those things out at courts when they have to balance 'em up for seats at a dinner-party, of course. It's just my impression, that's all, as a business man. "He's dead, anyway, and one needn't make personal remarks about dead men. All the same, it was a happy release for Lady Maud, and I doubt if she sits up all night mourning for him. Have you been out this afternoon, Miss Donne?" He changed the subject with extreme directness, and Mrs. Rushmore, who was used to the dictatorial ways of lions, took the hint submissively enough, though she would have been glad to discuss the relative and intrinsic values of the designations " Lady Maud" and " Countess Leven." But it was" much more important that the ! lion should bo left alone with Margaret as much as possible, and tho excellent lady therefore remembered that she had some- : tiling to do and left them. " I had a little talk with Kralinsky before he left," said Van Torp, when she was gone. "He says he'll meet us in Venice any time in the next few days. _ He just going to run over to Vienna in his eudden-death-cart for twenty-four hours; then he'll go south, he says. He ran me up to the hotel and dropped me. I daresay you heard the toots. I thought I saw Lady Maud looking out of the window of your room as I KOt out." "Yes," Margaret said. "But how do you know that : is my window?" " In the first place, I've counted the windows. I felt a sort of interest in knowing which was yours. And then, I often seo your maid "opening the shutters in the morning." "Oh !" Margaret smiled. " Did you notice anything unusual about Lady Maud when you saw her?" she asked, for she knew that he had good eyes. " Since you mention it, I thought she looked as if she didn't feel quit* up to the mark — I thought she was." "Yes," Margaret said. "She felt ill for a moment, and I thought she was going to faint. But it passed almost directly, and she insisted on going for a walk." "Oh," mused Mr. Van Torp, "is that so? Well, I daresay it was the best thing she could do. I was toiling you about Kralinsky. He's not Levi Longlegs after all, and I'm not euro he was ever in the West." "I thought it sounded unlikely," Margaret said. " I asked him just like that, in a friendly way, and he thought a moment and made an effort to recollect, and then he seemed quite pleased to remember that I'd been ' Fanny' and he'd been. Levi Longlegs. and that he used to whistle things out of ' Parsifal' bv the fire of an evening. "Well, but in that case—-" Margaret stopped with an inquiring look. " Just so," continued Van Torp, nodding. "Did you ever attend a trial and hear a witness being cross-examined by a lawyer who wants him to remember something, and he wants to remember it hjmself, but can't because he never heard of it before in his life? It's quite funny. The lawyer makes steps for him and puts his feet into them so that he gets along nicely, unless the judge happens to wake up and kick, and then the little game stops right there, and somebody laughs. Well, my talk with Kralinsky was like that, only there was no judge, so he went away happy; and we're old friends now, and punched cows on the same ranch, and he's coming on my yacht. I only wonder why he was so anxious to remember all that, and why he thought it would bo kind of friendly if I called him Levi Longlegs again, and he called me Fanny Cook. I wonder! He says he's still very fond of 'Parsifal," and came on purpose to hoar it, but that he's completely forgotten how to whistle. That's funny too. I ju6t thought I'd tell you, because if you come on my yacht and he comes too, you're liable to see quite a good deal of ono another."

" Did you tell him that Mrs. Rushmore and I would come?" Margaret asked. "And' Lady Maud?"

" Why, no. You've not promised yet, any more than you did last night, when he was there, and we talked about it, so how could I? I forgot to mention Lady Maud to him or elso I thought I wouldn't— forget which. It doesn't matter." "No." Margaret smiled. "Not a little bit."

"You seem amused," observed Mr. Van

Torn. " By the way of putting it, and your pretending to forget such a thing. ' " It wasn't quite true that I forgot; but I wanted to, so I didn't say anything about her. That's why I put it in that way. I don't choose to leave you any doubt about what I say, or mean, even in the smallest thing I tell you, even if it's not at all a doubt about the perfect, accuracy of anything I tell you even if it's not at all a downright lie, or anything resembling one, vou won't trust mo at all, in anything.

Because, if you trust me, you'll end by I liking me, and if you don't,trust me you'll j go back to thinking that I'm the Beast out I of Revelations, or something, as you used to. I'vo forgotten the Beast's number." Margaret smiled again, though she was continually conscious of her own sullenly smouldering anger against Logotheti. Van Torp was gaining influence over her in his own uncouth way. Logotheti had been able to play upon het moods,' as on that day under the elm tr<\* at Versailles, and she blushed when, she remembered that single kiss lie had won from her. But the American had no idea of such tactics in love, for he had never learned them. He was making war on the modern scientific system of never losing a hair's breadth of ground once gained, keeping his communications constantly open with the base from which he had started, bringing up fresh forces to the front without intermission, and playing his heavy artillery with judgment and tenacity. " The number doesn't matter," Margaret said, "for I've forgotten all about the beast." "Thank you," answered Mr. Van Torp. "To change the subject—l've got a little scheme to propose. Maybe you'll think well of it. Anyhow, as it's a mere matter of business connected with your career, you won't mind my explaining' it to you, will you?" "No, indeed!" Margaret was interested at once. "Do tell me!" she said, leaning forward a little. "Weil," he began, "I'vo looked around this place a good deal since I've been here,, and I've come to the conclusion that it's not very well done, anyhow, except ' Parsifal.' That's what most of the people really come for. I'm informed that they give all the other operas better in Munich, with the advantage of being in what you may call a Christian town, compared with this. Is that correct, do you think?" " Yes, I believe so." "It is, you can depend upon it. Now, what I want to know is, why you and I shouldn't go into a little business partnership, and do tins kind of thins brown, as it ought to be done." Margaret opened her handsome eyes wide. " Because," continued Mr. Van Torp, as coolly as if he were explaining a now plan to a board of directors, '' we've got the capital and the ability between us, and there's a demand in New York for what I propose to do. It'll fill a want, I know, and that means success and money. Why don't wo build a theatre together? When I say a theatre, I mean a first-class opera house and not a barn. We'll employ the best architects to build it, and, of course, I'd leave everything about it to you. I'vo got a. block in New York just about in the right place, and it won't take long to build. I'll give the land and put up the money for the building, if you'll undertake the management. You'll put in any money you like, of course, and we'll share the profits. Maybe they'll bo quite handsome, for we'll lease the theatre to other people outside of the season. We'll have the best talent in Europe, and pay for it, and the public will pay us back. We'll call it the Cordova Opera., if you like, and you'll run it according to your own ideas, and sing or not. whenever you please." "Are you in earnest?" (To bo continued daily.)