MADGE THE FLIRT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2923, 23 March 1910, Page 77

MADGE THE FLIRT.

By Kaleidoscope. Author vti " A Queen's Bad Bargain," "Tried by Fire," Etc.

[Ax-i. Rights Ris*kvm>.] '

I. Mrs Grinnet did not expect her to come to any good, and said so. With the lady named, expectation was synonymous with prophecy, and that again with the fulfilment of justice. True, she often, expected things to happen that somehow never did, but that trifling fact did not shako her faith in her own powers of vaticination. If'they didn't happen they should have happened, which came to the same thing; and so when she war compelled to expect that - Madge Violet wouldn't come to any good, she felt sincerely sorry. But who was Madge Violet? and was she so very dreadful? and what had she been doing to set Mrs Grinnet flourishing her special fragment of Elijah's mantle? Briefly,, she was the only child of Mrs Violet, a widow lady resid-ent in Helensburgh. Left in easy, even affluent, circumstances at the death oi her husband; who had been a fairly successful professional man, the widow bad; conic to her native town, and there set up her modest establishment, finding solace for her grief in the quiet of rural life and the companionship of her daughter. So much for i'ne first question. -For the second; 60 far from being dreadful, it would be difficult to say what Madge was not in the way of fresh, winsome girlhood. She was- -eighteen years of age, and from the crown of her pretty head to the toes, of" her dainty feet was emphatically one of those women in whose presence even a. good man feels that be might.be better; that he has more sin, original and acquired, about him than he was aware of. So much for the second question; ' ]';',]' - For the third—tfiat affecting what she bad been doing—the ." writer is afraid that no.answer is ready:—that is, if it implies the. doing of anything unusual. Madge had been looking bswitching, as she always did, simply because she Could nob help it: she had' also been ; turning the beads of all the young men in the place, except one—he wasr.irarn blind; but she could lipt help that either. She had oeen giving a, fair extent of, rein to the mischief that was f. auSidoubtedly in her, and though she Coiiifd have helped that; as a matter of fact'she didn't, being, I regret to say> a born flirt." •-..-•'•. Don't let me;.; be misunderstood in this* last connection" :S}ie : was not a flirt of the aggressve sort, by which are meant those who go out.of their way to ensnare victims. Her flirtation was entirely and exclusively defensive, jseeing that her victims went out of way to worry her life ,out, and if they' fdund grief where they looked for gladness they 'had only themselves to thank; It is very easy to call a girl a coquette, to purse up one's mouth," sour "apple fashion, and say "Shocking!" but* what- is she to' do? If a- parcel of I haven't any sense to begin with, "and can't take facts to go on with, -and'.-won't take "No" to end with, is she-to sibfahd smile at; them, till-they pull" her.iii pieces among them? Madge at least didn't think so. and found what little peace she had in keeping her adorers ir a state of chronic feud among themselves. While they were squabbling like hens in a crate, she obtained a mnchneedied rest, .and.-.ats they-were wrangling more than . she found her line of action to -sMAWSf very. well. In view of the foregoing it is a little difficult to undefeta&td what x 'Mrs' Grinnet meant by all at :4 pnee predicting an evil ending;" of life /for Madge. There' was nothing in the cnicumstahces which was not... familiar '"to- ..her, nothing' new. except —■ —■ ■■ ?.' sj<| i^i:. Ah, yes; doubtiess:-.that was it; "what Newton calls the;-'"Vera CaiTsa" of the phenomenon: exhibited by -Mrs Grinriet's temper. ' Harry--t>Scfe-' had : remarked in heifhearin-c that'-Miss-Violet was the; very prettiest girl he'fed ever seen. When the' reader is inw.rned that Dacre "was the .richest and ;jmb-gt. eligible bachelor in the ; .'district,..that only twenty-six, and : had returned..: about a month pre-; viously to. his ancestral home after a >; lengthened*, stav in India, he or she- will" be able- to understand--Mrs Orinhet's feelings, -motives; and mode of action ; espe--' callv when it is added that she had"three marriageable and \;decidfedly ambitious' daughters, • , / Now, Dacre, npt ;o b"ein.g evactly blind, could see- plainly •eno&g.h that he was an object of at lenstr-'nterest to the.maidens in and around JHelensbnrgh. He had been petted- and co-urtedt-'.-atll: his life, so that the sensation affofd'ed-'by their-behaviour was no • new 'orter, -.."and " had he been lees sweeping "in. his ceneralisations,' he mieht have saved deal of trouble. •As it was, kept his conceit so iii .the./hothouse of" adulation that it* at length blossomed into the idea that he coui-d. have any. girl for the asking. It was : -»-. mistake,., as he; was fated to. find out. ■ A man's feet, 'are exf the innermost edge of- disaster when he reaches that frame- of mind, and although he did not know it, there was just then one girl, at any rate, in Helensburgh_ who, so far from receiving him with gratitude, ■would not have'taken him and his !money as a, gift.' He had told a friend that Madge was thti very, prettiest girl he had ever seen, which was flattering: Madge had told her mother that he came as ne.ar>< > being j 'an abso'uto -fool as any_ man she hads«ver'«n.et>'.which' -iivas'emphaiically the •■ ! ''r'6v.•el'se^ , *• Arid the odid • about' it was'that" Botfi-s'tatemen£S' T *% : er% uiiquestionablV r *ti'uf."'" ...'..,.. . ~ Ard^hcaple.' House, "Dacre's. : place,", as the country, folks called it,, may have deserved many •encomiums on the: score gig piGturesqueness, and beauty- of

surroundings, but there was one thing that could not be said of it—no man in his senses would have called it a cheer • ful place. The loser of a breach of promise action,; with a hole, more or less big, in his bank-book, and the laughter roused in court by the reading of his | " Pussy-wussy ".•' love-letters still ringi ing in. his ears, he might have found it a desirable retreat, or it might have been turned into a haven and heaven of rest, for evicted ghosts, but for the requirements of every-day life it was eminently less fitted. And probably the man who would have subscribed most heartily to the above on a certain June morning about six weeks after the date on which this story opens was no other than its owner, Harvey Dacre. Leaving the house, he crossed the lawn, entered the wood, and, striking a path leading in the direction of the town, plodded on with his hands up to the elbows in the pockets of his shooting jacket and his hat pulled down oyer his eyes. Evdently the question" was still clamorous for answer. The answer was nearer than he dreamed of, for just as he reached the - stile -in the woodland fence giving access to the high road, he chanced to look up—started, stopped, and stood with the light of a sudden knowledge shining on his face. He. knew now what was the matter with him, why he had grown so restless, and why the old hall had grown so dull. It cam on him like z flash, and with no slight amount of astonishment he realised two things—that he was in love with Madge Violet, and tha,' Madge Violet was coming down, the road. Madge herself: no other. She was walking very slowly, with her head bent, and her' tiny gloved fingers interlaced before her at the full extent of her arms. She Avas quite unconscious of being observed ; had it been otherwise, the watcher - would ■- have had less' opportunity for studying the details of the charming picture upon which his eyes were fixed. When distant from, the stile some four yards, Madge looked up, and instantly detected the figure of her admirer. ' If she felt surprise she did hot show it, but - continued to advance with maiden sedateness, although. there was . a questioning look in heT eyes, brought there, probably,, by the very self-congratulatory expression of. Dacre. "How very, fortunate, Miss Violet," he said, as he replaced the hat he bad doffed and proceeded to climb the stile. ''To what do you allude?'' asked Madge calmly as she stopped andi looked at him. . "To this'meeting; quite unexpected m my part." ''And on mine, else I should have taken another path," she replied deliberately, Dacre laughed. "You are severe, Miss Violet," he said, , "but T cannot think that you mean what you say." ■/- .!■-. .... "Why?" she asked-, the. grey eyes looking straight at him..-.' "Oh, well, women never do, you know," he answered, regarding her admiringly. Madge's lip curled.' slightly. "Such, I understand, is the. prevailing opinion," she said, "but .there'are exceptions. " "... ' . ~ .. ■ . • . ..- "You being one?" he- put in with a half ,smile, the sight of-which roused in her . a feeling of positive irritation. He really seemed to think that she should feel honoured by his notice. "Emphatically «o,".ish)a.replied, and with an-inclination of the head turned to leave him. "Then I will try to believe it," he replied,in his .slow, affected tones. "And now. Miss Violet, are you going home?" "Yes," was. the answer. - "' ' ■ "Then I shall have the pleasure of . accompanying you,", he said, and proceeded to walk by her ede. . • -<r« instant!" stopped, and dense as. conceit: had made him, he read danger in the look of the great grey eyes. They were, as, yet the merest acquaintances, and he was adopting his favourite style of condescendin.r patronage already. She felt -'her cheek fliish' in' the intensity of her resentment;; '. '.'■'''_,?"■''.,.:■ "Don't"you think, Mr .Dacre,, that you have forgotten ...isdmetlung?' she asked '% —whv, ho," he answered in wonder. "What is. it?" -v .•.«', -v > "To ask permission to accompany me." **? '"Oh,-so I did,'"-'he said lightly. "Then s let me ask it now." r - -' ' ?'"•. ■ "That's better,"'said Madge with m'ock- - ing emphrsis. ''And now. that .the ques- * tiori is asked, my-answer, is—No." - I "Miss. Violet!".., ".,-; ~-:., ..:.-. -' "Is vDp.,"; repeated.: Madge,- calmly, although she had some' difficulty in repressing a smile at. his evident.consternation. "I wish to go : home alonej" and .. with another inclination of victorious head the spirited . little lassie walked away, leaving . the owner of. Ardencaple House feeling that he had been taken down a . quite-uncountable number'of pegs. . Then another, thing "happened,. perhaps the most surprising of. all. He suddenly " recovered the ;power- of .blushing. The thing would have been-, incredible- as a • matter of fact; was simply ■ undeniable. The-red rushed up to-the very roots of his hair, and when it- : i*etreated'left him looking positively seated. I .,With a half- , formed resolve to see the, doctor at once abou t . this sta riling.... evidence revealing "determination of blood to the head,", he crawled back over the stile and began to retrace his steps through the wood.- And as he went he gradually- digested the truth- that he had ; been snubbed, and by a girlr It was not a pleasant process, but it did him, good,. if only by, raising in liis mind a dim notion that playing the fool was not the best-way to win-the love-of a, : gi!slrJike^vMadge>Violeti:-. ; .-.■*&**■ • ; ' •; h ; ';!*.'""t'.nL \ :* . ;.; ■■'■*■■'■■ ;■"■*. Mrs Gi'ihihet was in"a,highly; combustible state. She "really thought, that Mrs Violet ought to: be-spoken to. The way ..that girl was carrying oil with ■•'• Harvey

Dacre was unheard, of, and although ' there might be some shadow of excuse for Dacre—seeing 'iha.t man is but a shorter way of spelling depravity,—yet there could be none for the behaviour of Madge. Somebody should interfere. Needless to say that the bulk of the Helensburgh bachelors agreed with Mrs Grinhet on the last point. It had been hard enough work to hold their own with Madge before Dacre's advent; now it was becoming impossible, and in spits, of their utmost efforts, individual and collective, they saw themselves losing ground every day. Whether the newcomer possessed more determination than they, or whether Madge, in spite of her saucy ways,' was really disposed to favour him, certain it is that he contrived to monopolise a good deal of her time and.render himself a sort of privileged nuisance at "Holly Cottage," as Mrs Violet's pretty home was named. If Madge could have been induced to adopt "advanced views" and forswear matrimony, Mrs Grinnet would have been delighted, and if Dacre could have been induced, to commit murder and so get comfortably hung, his rivals would have voted him a brick, and raised a monument to his memory. For this the innate good sense of Dacre was directly responsible. After that fear..ul snub received at the woodland stile, he undertook an afternoon's hard thinking, the result of which was a characteristically through change of 'rent. Hewanted Madge, wanted her so much that he at once began to reduce his existing estimate of himself, and uprooted with remorseless hand the weeds of affectation .hat were growing all over him. He felt as if there was not much lef- when he had finished the operation, but consoling himself with the thought that the rem" nant was at least real man, took courage and presented himself with the least permissible delay at "Holly Cottage." Madge's reception of him was at first arctic, and gave him the impression that he had set himself to woo the queen of all the 'cebergs. But presently noting, as she could not fail to do, the marked craving for amendment" manifested by him, she thawed perceptibly, and finally sent him»away in a condition of carefullyrepressed jubilation. After that matters seemed to adjust themselves of- their own accord.. Dacre insensibly wormed himself into the post of chief "slave to Madge, and Madge in turn made him very sensibly aware of the duties attaching to such a. position,- so that in a sense both were pleased—Dacre most. True, he found the work exacting, and he was by no means sure of receiving the full reward be wanted when the time came to ask for it, but still, as he wrs constantly receiving something on aCount snubs chiefly, he kept on hoping and telling himself that -playing tame cat to Madge Violet was exactly what he was made for. And Madge—saucy, wilful, darling Madge—iO.w was it, with her? It would have been difficult for anyone to tell, and perhaps the one who knew, or at least pretended to • know, least about it was Madge herself. She would neither admit liking nor disliking Dacre, and although her cheek might flush just a little when his voice was heard at the door, yet. there was always a remarkably- enigmatical little maiden awaiting him .when he enteredi the room. Perhaps the eyes that saw the position most clearly were those- of Mrs Violet. The gentle old lady had become warmly attached to Dacre, who, now that he had resigned"the position of idiot-in-ordinary to fashion, impressed her strongly with the genuine manliness and chivalrous ' tenderness .of his nature. "Madge, dear," she said one day when the usual bickering between the two young folks had ended in Dacre going away with as much dejection as he could carry, "Madge, dear, you really should treat Mr- Dacre better. You are making him miserable." * .. "It's good for' him," said Madge promptly. "What busihses had he to abuse.'. the hero of Miss Tweedle's new novel" in that fashion?" "You asked him for an. opinion, you remember," replied Mrs Violet,- smiling at the look of severity in her daughter's face. .-"...'- "Yes, mamma., but I didn't think he'd attack the poor hero in that way. Why, he actually called him a. molly-coddle, and when t told him that the book was one of, Mks Tweedle's most successful efforts, what do you .think the wretch said?" ■ "I haven't an idea." "Well, he laughed, and asked whether she had any connection with the firm of Tweedledum and Tweedledee. . Did he expect ine to stand that?" "It was provoking,. 1 admit." replied Mrs Violet, laughing; "but .still I think you were too severe. The offence scarcely merited the- punishment." "No; it deserved a greater one, and I'll give him more the very next time 1 see him." Mrs Violet looked at her daughter s bright-face for a moment, and then a shadow passed over ..her own. "Do you care for him," Madge?" she asked gently. .-• Madge felt the quick blood rush to her face, and turned to the window to hide the tell-tale colour. '. "I don't know," she replied, with some confusion. "Sometimes he is very nice, and then again he is But. don't let's bother about him, mamma, dear." "But I think'he is a good man, Madge, and I am sure he loves- you." "I know he does," said Madge, turning from" the window; : with a delicious mix-, ture^of.shyness, and saucineas...,. '-'■ <,.'.;;•■■--;■■' " - inn .;quiri»gly-/V; .-'•■.•... Y--* ~* ■•■'-'• '**• »:***£ .-*., "Yes* he> has ; ; told, in© he does,-only'T don't- ~beJieve'v h im." ••■'•<"- «•-•'•" '■'■■■' "But, Madge " ;'■"V - '"* :-;■■ "Please, don't, mamma," interrupted Madge, with'a little nervous'laugh. : "If he—" ■• '/'■.';";:•' "

JtfA fcViu-s jp-' ■<}':'. -wteion getting the better tf li<u"i JSilaage went from the room, leaving Sirs Violet smiling, but with tears in her eyes. "It will come right in. time," she said' softly. The duration of the time referred to might have been indefinite had no f Dacre, in sheer desperation, resolved upon- a boldei course of actior than he had yet attempted. It was true that he had in so many words told Madge that he loved her, but it Avae also true that on that occasion he obtained no satisfactory answer to the half question which was all he had been allowed to ask. What was worse, ah© had taken very special care that he should have no possible opportunity of asking hie question again, and frustrated all his efforts to corner her with such calm unconsciousness that he was exasperated into genuine courage. .Consequently, when he had recovered from the depression brough' about by Mies Tweedle's molly-coddle hero, he resolved to. bring the matter^to an issue and know the best or the worst at once. Anything was better than living in suspense. As became a man of action, he had no sooner made up his mind than he went in search of Madge. Fortune favoured him to the extent that he found her alone, her mother having gone to visit an invalid neighbour. - As ha entered the room, Madge, who was sitting by the window, regarded him with a. look expressing some surprise and just a little confusion, the latter due, perhaps, to the fact that she had just then been thinking of him. There was a look in her eyes, too, that made hie heart leap as he saw it. "Well,- she said, with rather shaky calmness, "have you come to apologise?" "No, I" haven't," he replied, hiding his nearly abject terror under a. show of boldness. "It's something else." "Oh!" "An answer to a question I asked three weeks ago," he went on. "A question," repeated Madge reflectively. "Let me- see; I really don't remember." She put her head awry, bird fashion, placed a finger c-f her lips, and puckered her white forehead up into a thoughtful trown. I v was very well done, and had she been able to keep the 'flush from deepening on her cheek and her breath from quickening, mignt have proved successful. As it was, it only, precipitated matters. "You remember well enough: It was Oh, Madge, won't you answer me?". • His voice (trembled! in the flood of passion surging over him, and he took a. step nearer to her. , She looked up, crimsoning to the very temples. "No, I won't," she said, and rose as if to attempt escape. "You must," he answered, and,* utterly reckless now of consequences, caught her and held her fast. She did not struggle, .but he could feel her trembling, . and she kept her face obstinately hidden. "Tell .iiie> dearest; what is it to be?"' "I won't," in a. whisper. "Then I'll keep you here till you do." A long pause. Then—- " You're a wretch; ,If I say yes, will you let me have my own way?" "Always." "And you won't be silly?" "Never again." "And that hero isn't a molly-coddle?" ■ "He's a paragon of manliness." "Well, then, you're a nuisance." "Can't help that." "Is that mamma coming up the walk?" "Yes, and she'll' be in here in a minute." • "Oh, dear! Yes, then." "Now a kiss." •>».. *'•:' The sweet,-, blushln-o- face was lifted, and then Dacre made-it apparent thatone with him was an- indefinite number. It was only when he heard Mr* Violet in. the passage that he released his victim. "Can't you behave?" gasped Madge, as red as fire. Ha tried to by seating .himself, and then Airs Violet came in. ■ Mrs Gvinnet is on visiting terms with Mrs Dacre, and tries to forget that she ever referred to the mistress of Ardencaple House as "Madge the Flirt."