THE HEART OF A DANCER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20072, 9 October 1928, Page 18

THE HEART OF A DANCER.

BY CHARLES PROCTER.

SYNOPSIS. Daphne Bell, the only child of Sir Ronald Bell, tlio-< eminent surgeon, invades her iaiher's sanctum on her return from it. dance and tella him that Clinton Wallace, her father's assistant, has naked her to marry him, and sho has consented. Sir Ronald is not exactly charmed, as he had thought his daughter might probably be drawn , to Alan Burko, a-younger, and much wealthier man. Daphne makes it quito clear that slio does not intend to marry a dawdler liko Alan. Sho wants a man who will make his mark, and she knows her father has a high opinion of his assistant's surgical abilities. Next morning, when Sir Ronald ineetß Clinton Wallace, t'ua two men thrash tho nuitter out. Sir Ronald mentions Clinton's first marriage. Somo years ago Clinton hud met and fallen love with Irma Zivintof, a Russian girl. Within a week of their wedding the revolution broko out, and he was arrested and thrown into prison, ana his young wife murdored. Clinton assures tho elder surgeon that ho is wholeheartedly in love with Daphne. Sir Ronald gives way, and the couple aro engaged. Congratulations pour in upon them. Alan Burko is disappointed, and Betty Pryrle, n girl-friend of Daphne's, is also hurt. Sho is deeply in love with Clinton Wallace herself. A dinner party is given by Sir Ronald to celebrate his daughter's engagement, and stalls aro booked for tho Russian Ballet. As Pavlovina, the Russian dancer makes her first appearance, Clinton becomes ghastly pale. Pavlovina. is Irma Zivintof. Daphne questions Clinton Wallace, who nays it was a neuralgic spasm. Daphno exclaims at tho dancer's loveliness, and nftervrards manages to effect, an introduction. Sho dances with Dougloff, whilo Clinton converse!) with Pavlovina, trying to lolve tho mystery of tho res;ombla.nco to vma. > CHAPTER ll.—(Continued.) " Mr. Wallaco lias been in Russia, and to-night he was so affected l>y your performance that ho almost fainted," broke in Alan Burko in French. " I say, come and dance, Alan," interposod Betty Pryde, who had been feeling decidely " out of it" because the conversation had been .chiefly in l'rench, which she did not understand. "You know Russia, monsieur?" Pavlovina asked Clinton, as Betty almost dragged Burko away. " Yes,' I was serving there as a medical officer when tho revolution broko out, answered Clinton, looking at her stoadilv. " Were' you there then, mademoiselle ! " Yes, I think, but I do not know," Tavolvina answered, her lovely face clouding, Sho beckoned to Scrgo Komanoff. " Allow mo to present riiy husband, Mr. Wallace," she continued. " Scrgo, Mr. Wallaco was in Russia at the outbreak of™tho Red Revolution. Serge Romanoff shook hands, regarding Clinton with interest. " Can it be possiblo that wo have met before, monsieur?" ho asked. "\our face seems familiar. In what part of the country wcro you nt tho revolution ? " Moscow, and I was immediately arrested and thrown into prison. Wcro you .and Madam Romanoff with tho ballet at that time ?" " I was with one of tho companies, but at that tim-t I was on my way to Warsaw. It was there that Dougloff discovered ,01g«i some time later among a crowd of refugees. She could remember nothing—not even her own name, did not know whence sho carno or how sho had got . to Warsaw." " So' Serge married me and gave mo his name," Pavlovina chimed in, laying her hand affectionately 011 her handsome husband's arm, " and tho great Dougloff " gavo 1110 the namo of Pavlovina because Pavlova herself complimented mo on my dancing." " You bear a most extraordinary resemblance to a lady whose namo was Irma i Zivintof." said Clinton, and his heart seemed to miss a beat as he waited to see tho effect of tho remark. Pavlovina merely raised her eyebrows and smiled politely, but Sergo Romanoll started perceptibly. "Irma Zivintof?" ho repeated, looking at Clinton with an odd expression in his dark eyes. "Did you know her? Madame is her double." "Sho must indeed have been beautiful!" i exclaimed Serge, turning to bow gallantly to his wife, who playfully tapped him on the head with her fan. " Flatterer!" she laughed. " But who was this Inna Zivintof, Serge? Did you know her? If lam so like her, why have you not told me about her before " I did not know her," Romanoff responded, answering both his wife and Clinton, "but I knew her father, Ivan Zivintof, slightly, and had heard it mentioned that Siis daughter was very bcauti-. ful. In Warsaw I was told that she had married 1 a foreigner, and that she and her husband were murdered -when the revolutionaries ran amuck." " Her husband was not murdered," said Clinton quietly.* "I am the '.foreigner' ;who married Irma Zivintof." * " Yon, monsieur!" exclaimed Romanoff, aghast and incredulous. " But—but that is not possible! In Warsaw I met a relative who saw the foreign oflicer who married Irma led away, to execution, and saw Mamemoisello Zivintof massacred." " I was led away with a crowd of others to be shot without trial, and it was only tho fact that I was wearing the uniform of a British officer and tho badge of the Red Cross which staved me from summary execution," explained Clinton. "As 'it was, I was thrown into prison and kept for weeks in a dungeon with a throng of other prisoners. Not until I was liberated did I learn that my wifo had been murdered." " How very, very terrible," exclaimed Pavlovina, looking genuinely distressed. " And the resemblance you say I bear to the," poor Irma must havo brought all the terrible tragedy back to your mind on this night when you should bo so very happy at tho celebration of your betrothal." " Yes, it did bring back the tragedy to my mind, but now I am going to try to blot it out of my thoughts and bo happy," said Clinton, feeling as if a great weight had bpen lifted from his heart, for now ho was convinced that it w;is impossible that Padovina and Irma could bo one and tho same. " You, too, must havo suffered, rnadamc." " Yes, but I do not remember." Pavlovina replied. " I can remember only the shooting, tho crowds of screaming, panic-stricken women and children, then ♦here is a blank until I found myself in Warsaw.- All I could remember was that my namo was Olga, and that I was a dancer. But I havo found happiness with Serge, my husband, and in my work, 5Jv 0 y° u find happiness with Mademoiselle Bell and that you love again " ■, Pardon me, Monsieur Wallace, for B *?T ed 3 ., t0 doub t you,'" added • -!?, ld , not understand. It S llM 0 that you, a famous surK' oir,C,!r who Bel Pat . h ß h a ? n,oUnc edpaSfS. " £ She ke«Tw }V vhat the y call ideal, all- the time o{ the } Vft y of mine j tesss, AM « ■ sasnas - s® **> m in £ ' t - dance with , ? 7 - 1 £'>' e you the Wow of the

FINE STORY OF SWIFT ACTION AND ROMANCE.

(coprniGnr.)

foot. Mees 801 l she say I dance divine. Me and her. we tako the place of Sergo and you if. the Ballet. I—me—yes, I am tho great dancer, 11' co pas, Mces Bell ?" "You are immense!" exclaimed Daphne, and everyone laughed who had knowledgo enough of English to appreciate tho doublo entendre. Dougloff himself appreciated it and chortled. "Pouf! Not so very immense, Mces Bell!" lie cried. "I am only what tho English tailor say forty-nine inch round the ceinturc." It was a wcleorno diversion to Clinton Wallaco after tho nervous strain, and after chatting at largo for a few minutes he invited Daphno to danco when tho band struck up again. "Sure you aro feeling better, dear?" asked Daphne, as they glided away together. " Quite sure, sweetheart," Clinton answered. " The trouble has passed and I am myself again." Thero was a world of meaning in tho simplo words, a significance which Daphne, fortunately for her own peace of mind, did not grasp. Clinton, satisfied now that tho resemblance of Pavlovina to Irma Zivintof was merely a remarkable coincidence, felt as if ho had awakened from a terrifying niglitinaro to find the sun shining. " I am so glad—and now I feel as if you really do belong to me again," said Daphne, smiling up into his eyes. " What were you discussing so very earnestly with Pavlovina and her husband, Clinton, whilo I danced with M. Dougloff ?" Clinton wondered if 110 should tell her tho wholo truth, but decided it would bo wisor not to do so. " Wo wero talking about tho horrors of tho first days of tho revolution," 110 replied. " Serge Romanoff has met men who saw people I know—and one person in particular—massacred. But I don't want to talk about that horrible time, Daphno dear. I want to blot it out of my mind." " And I am going to help you to blot it out, Clinton," whispered Daphne, " and give you all tho lovo and happiness out of which tho fates cheated you." " You will—you do," said Clinton with intense feeling. " Bless you, my love, . ." CHAPTER 111. It was nearly two o'clock in Ihe morning before the party broke up, but for a full hour after he. arrived home Clinton sab doop in thought, reviewing tho happenings ol' tho preceeding hours. " Surely everything must, bo all right?" he ruminated. " Tho Soviet officials and tho British representatives both told me Inna had been killed. Sergo Romanoft says ho has friends who saw her murdered. Pavlovina is tho very doublo of Irma, but sho is too young actually to be Irma, and if Irma had escaped sho would surely havo communicated with me. But for tho fact that Pavlovina says she has no idea of her real identity, I should be certain that I havo been frightening myself needlessly." Ho rose and paced up and down bis sitting room, his brows drawn together, his teeth biting hard on tho stern of his unlightod pipe. " It would be madness, surely, to break off my engagement to Daphno because ot Pavlovina's odd resemblance to Irma," ho soliloquised. " I should break Daphno's heart and wreck my own chances of happiness. Moreover, it would seem that I was trying to suggest that Pavlovina and Serg>« Romanoff aro not legally married, and I should cause them unhappincss, too, and earn their enmity.' I wish to heaven I had not seen Pavlovina. . . Oh, what a fool I am to be torturing myself with doubts and fears in this fashion bocause of a chance resemblance! Everything must bo all right! Irma is dead and the past is dead. Daphne loves mo as much as I love her, and wo aro going to bo happy." While Clinton was thus soliloquising. Alan Burko, in his bachelor chambers in another part of the West End, was likewise doing somo hard thinking about Pavlovina and Daphno. Alan had had anothor chat with Dougloff after bidding his host good-night, and tho jovial Russian had questioned him about Clinton Wallace. Pavlovina had told Dougioff of her conversation with Clinton and inquired if he knew anything of one Irma Zivintof, whom sho was said to resemble. Dougloff did not, but lie was interested, for he had always been anxious to solve tho mystery of Pavlovina's identity "Do you know if tho Mademoiselle Zivi 111 off whom your friend married was i a dancer?" he had inquired of Burke, who had been unablo to give him any information. "It would be strange if Monsieur Wallace's conversation- should lead to Pavlovina discovering who sho actually is. If her reseinblanco to your friend's first wife-is so striking, it may be that, she is the poor girl's sister or some close ro» lation." " It may even be possible that she is actually Irma Zivintof," Alan Burko commented. " No, I think that is impossible. Sh| was a mere girl, too young, I think, to be a wife, when I discovered her in Warsaw. If sho wcro Irma Zivintof, do you think tho sight of her husband wonld not havo restored her memory? But what a complication if it were possiblo! What a subject for a drama! Pavlovina married to Serge Romanoff, your friend Monsieur ■Wallace about to be married to another; woman; the tragic recognition. I could make a great drama out of it myself. " Think of tho dramatic possibilities," ho continued, waxing enthusiastic. " Picture the despair of both women on finding they aro not legally married, tho despair of Romanoff on discovering that his lovely wife belongs to another, the horror of tho other woman at discovering her husband is a bigamist. Ah! a great tragedy, monsieur! A magnificent situation !" "So it was Pavlovina who was the cause of Wallace's ' neuralgic spasm,' " Alan Burko was reflecting, as ho sat smoking at three o'clock in tho morning. Seems to mo, in spite of what Dougloff said, that it is possiblo Pavlovina is Irma Zivintof, and while thero remains a shadow of a doubt, Wallaco has no right to rnarrv Dahpnc. I'vo a good mind to fell Daphne and her father what I know. The dovi.l of it is that Daphno appears to be genuinely in lovo with Wallace, and sho might think I was actuated by spite. If it turned out that thero wero no grounds for suggesting that Pavlovina and Irrna Zivintof are one and tho same, Daphno would dospiso mo for trying to imply that Wallaco is a wrong tin , and Wallace would regard mo as his enemy for life. And if it turned out to bo right, Daphno might break her heart. I'll seo Wallace, challcngo him, and threaten to forbid the banns if I think there is tho slightest possibility that ho wiii bo committing bigamy by marrying Daphne." (To bo continued daily.)