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Fine Feathers.

l^illllllllfllilllllllllllllilllllllllllllii!!’ " STAR’S ” NEW SERIAL.

By

EFFIE ADELAIDE ROWLANDS

Author of '• A Bunch of Blue Ribbons,” Ihe Man From the West,” “ Brave Love,” etc. ! illl!llllfllllllllllllllllll!ll!lllll|||||||||||||| CHAPTER XlX.—(Continued). _ Mary,” he said, “I want you to be Lionel s wife.” Mary never took the hand that was outstretched, nor did she answer immediately. The colour faded out of her cheeks, and almost a stern expression came on her face. “I am sorry, dear Sir Arthur ” she ? aid - “but that is a hope that can never be fulfilled, I do not want to seem ungracious or to disappoint you. Believe me, I appreciate your affection for me far more deeply than I can possibly tell you, but in the question of marriage outside influence can have no place with me.” She paused a little and then she said clearly and firmly, ‘ and I must tell you I have already chosen my husband.” Sir Arthur’s face flushed a hot red, and he frowned. “I won’t pretend to misunderstand you! You are speaking of that young upstart Angleton, I suppose!” ‘‘Who do you call him an upstart?” queried Mary. “What have you got against Bryan ? You don’t know him, Sir Arthur. You refuse to know him, you keep him outside your life, and yet you criticise him and even judge him very cruelly.” “ I do not want to know him,” the old man answered hotly, and he trembled with anger. “ I don’t want to have anything to do with him! I am perfectly well aware that your heart is full of romantic nonsense about this young puppy! I saw that at your mother's funeral. But I won’t have it, Mary! Do \-ou understand? 1 won’t have it! Your future must be decided by me, and I have determined that you are going to marry my nephew, Lionel. That’s the beginning and the end of it! ” Mary sat very still, and took a firm grip on herself. Then she said very gently to the old man: “ Please don’t distress yourself, Sir Arthur. You will only undo all the good that has been done this last week or so,” she caught her breath and sighed, and then she put a question to nim. “Will you be satisfied if I tell you that I am not going to marry anyone for the moment?” But Sir Arthur, who had in his day been a very autocratic and self-willed man, refused to be pacified. “ No, I will not be satisfied with that,” he said, and he spoke almost fiercely, “ You are a child, Mary; I am an old man, and I know what is good for you. Just because that silly old Angleton woman has chosen to boost this unknown grandson of hers on to the world, and give him a big position and turn his head, that is no reason why you should throw yourself away on him! Lionel is your proper mate. With you as his wife there is very little that he cannot attempt and achieve. Now let’s hear no more about this fellow Bryan Angleton.” As he spoke Sir Arthur sank back in his chair, and the red faded out of his cheeks/ He seemed exhausted and looked very white, very feeble and very ill, and at that moment Lionel Grafter came across the lawn. At once he guessed as he looked from one to the other that something of an upsetting, and it might be serious, nature had passed between his uncle and Mary. And as he approached, the girl got up very quickly and walked away. Lionel looked after Mary, paused, bit his lip and then glanced at his uncle. IJis instinct was to follow the girl, but there was a look about the old man which restrained him, and he sat down beside Sir Arthur and put his hand on the old man’s wrist. Then, seeing a glass with a little brandy and water standing on a table near at hand (a stimulant with which Sir Arthur was never allowed to be without) he held this to his uncle’s lips. In a little while Sir Arthur opened his eyes and smiled at the young man. “I’m all right,”’he said feebly, “this only proves that I must not excite ; myself about anything these days!” “ Why should you excite yourself, dear U ncle Arthur ? ” the young man asked smoothly and swiftly. Sir Arthur closed his eyes again, and his brows were contracted. Then he said: “ Lionel, I spoke to Mary. I told her what I had in my heart. . . . I. told her that 1 wanted her to be your wife. 1 daresay you will reproach me, and say I made a great mistake, and it was very foolish of me to broach this subject, but it was something she said that forced me to do it. Lionel,” the old man said, and he spoke eagerly, “ she’s in love with that young fellow Angleton.” “ Did she say so?” asked Lionel hurriedlv.

“ In so many words she did.” said Sir Arthur. “ She told me she had chosen her husband, and I am fully aware that there is no other young men in her life except Angleton and yourself. And I am very much afraid, Lionel, it was not you whom she meant when she said she had made her choice.” Lionel laughed, not a very pleasant laugh. “ Well,” he said, “ we cannot force these things, you know. I had an idea, as I have let . you understand, that I fancied we thoroughly understood one another, but if I have made a mistake, well, there’s nothing more to be done.” Sir Arthur pushed himself up into a sitting position. He was trembling all “ Yes, there is! Yes, there is! You must not let her go. I tell you, Lionel, she is the one woman in the world who will help you to succeed, who will give you happiness. You might search everywhere and you would never find anyone to approach Mary in those qualities which are so necessary in a wife for a man like you.” To himself Lionel was cursing the old man. He realised that by speaking without first of all telling him that he intended to do so, and probably by saying very bitter words about Bryan Angleton, he would have driven Mary much further away than she had been. And Lionel was forced to confess to himself that in his own mind he had to realise that, despite all his attentions, his charm, his good looks and his homage, he had really made no step forward in Mary Pagent’s good opinion. However, he played his part now to perfection. He waited upon Sir Arthur, and he calmed the old man

and then he went to fetch the nurse, who was sitting at the window of the bedroom waiting to be called. And after that he went in search of was not to be found. Ilis uncle, in his faltering way, had told him j there had come the news of Phil hav- : ing met with a slight accident in the field sports, and how Mary had wanted to go to her 1 >rother, and how he had prevented this. Altogether the prospect of the immediate future did not look very satisfactory to Lionel. And,, strange to say, at this juncture of affairs the question of money (although that was always present with him) was less prominent in his thoughts than the desire, the passionate, jealous j determination to force Mary into recognising him as her future mate. (To be continued.)

The issue of “ The Commercial,” published bv the “Manchester Ouardian ” on April 25, has an excellent photograph of the port of Lyttelton on the front page. _ Under the will of the late Sophia Bates, who was a resident of Danne- ! virke for manv rears, the Dannevirke ; Hospital benefits by a legacy of an . estimated value of £IOOO. which it is i proposed to devote . towards the cost . of erecting a maternity home. That one seldom heard of New Zealanders boasting of their nationality, ; while Australians were very assertive and proud of their country, was stated l by the Rev Charles Perry at the meet- ; ing of the Historical Association at ; Canterbury College last evening. New . Zealand was very loyal, but had not yet developed individuality, declared Mr Perrv, who said that the other dominions,' while loyal to the Empire. ' were essentia 11 v individualistic in out- ' look

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS19290614.2.167

Bibliographic details

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18785, 14 June 1929, Page 16

Word Count
1,404

Fine Feathers. Star (Christchurch), Issue 18785, 14 June 1929, Page 16

Fine Feathers. Star (Christchurch), Issue 18785, 14 June 1929, Page 16

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