The Troubled Journey

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 139, 13 June 1936, Page 14

The Troubled Journey

SERIAL STORY

MARGARET GLENN.

By

(Chapter IV Continued.) , The sudden death of that man. his : friend, had been yet another blow, but p Derek weathered it successfully. lie 1 was in complete charge of the school I < of course; the senior parlncr’s share' ! had been left io his wife, who was 1 more than satisfied to leave the management in Derek's hands. The school ■ prospered. At the time when Joan ; Marlin look a course al it, it was flourishing. . Joan had selected it by chance. It ‘ was within half-a-mile of Downs Road, . and she could walk to and from Fel- ( felly’s house without any trouble. She j had no Idea of the attachment which ( the serious-faved tutor had formed for her; and Derek Graham could not And Iho courage to speak of it. The shadow of his first marriage, and that brief period of happiness which had followed it, bad made him afraid. His experiences had given him greater control over himself, however. As he. entered the office, after the talk , with Joan, he smiled a little, and and picked up the telephone on his desk. I Ho called a Temple Bar number, and after a few minutes a girl s voice | answered him: | “ Matthews and Wyatt speaking.” I "Mr Matthews, please,” said Derek. CHAPTER V. London again. Joan had been up to town several times since she had arrived at Wimbledon, but always with Felicity or Dick. For the first lime she was alone; and for the first, time she walked along the length of Hie Strand. The. vastness of the buildings, the multitudes of people, appalled her. She frit so small, so insignificant, until she realised that all the people about her were very much like her. All of them played some small part in the working of this great city. Even lhe malchsellers and the newsboys, the beggars who lined the pavements at regular intervals, all of them played a. very definite part. She felt more con fldenl. But her confidence oozed away when «he entered lhe palatial offices of Messrs Matthews and Wyatt. She had imagined that the firm would be a small one, with a tiny office and two or three typists and clerks. Instead, she entered one the most Imposing buildings which she had ever seen. Matthews and Wyatt believed in doing things on a big scale. Their buildings, in the Strand, rivalled those of lhe big banks in size and magnificence. Uniformed commissionaires stood at the massive swing doors, and inside lhe building, great pillars of granite rose upwards to lhe ceiling whicli seemed so far away that it was

invisible. The ground floor, on either side of the wide, stone passage with its rubber covering, was literally filled with typists and clerks. The hum of machines, lhe murmur of voices, the ringing of telephone bolls, was incessant. Joan felt appalled. She would never be able to accustom herself to She did notice, however, that the commissionaire seemed Impressed when she asked for Mr Matthews; that Derek Graham's friend could be the Matthews of this great firm she could hardly credit, but it seemed as if it was. 'l'hat opinion was confirmed very quickly. As though in a dream Joan was let. along lhe passage, up a wide flight o stairs more suitable to a country man-

sion than a commercial building Into ‘ a comfortably fitted lift, ami whirred upwards, guided by a cheeky-faced , lift-boy. On lhe fourth floor of the building I the lift stopped. Another commissionaire w’as wailing to escort her to the private office of Mr Matthews, .loan’s knees fell very weak, but she contrived to maintain her composure, even when she reached lhe door which was marked: Geoffrey Matthews. Managing Director. The commissionaire opened lhe door md ushered Joan in. As she entered, she felj, more liny '.han ever. The room was tremendous, and it seemed even larger than it was because of the fact that it was rompara- : lively empty. Only one large desk i and one smaller on? stood in the c p n- : ire of the room, although the walls, I on two sides, were lined with steel flling cabinets. Two doors led from the office, one marked: “ Private,” and the other “ Secretary.” Geoffrey Matthews was a large man. florid-faced bill genial tn speak to and to look al. He had bright blue eyes winch could be very hard but whicli were smiling pleasantly at that mnrnenl. Joan, who had dropped into’, lhe habit of noticing small things, saw ' that his very while teeth were false i She had an impression of a man wliose shoulders, clad in dark grey, were Ire- , mendously wide, and whose feature 6 I were homely rather than impressive, lie might almost have been called ugly. I “Miss Martin?” Matthews started lhe ball rolling. “Mr Graham asked I you Io come along and see me, I think.” ” That’s right.” said Joan. She was surprised that she managed I to keep her voice steady, and she was I even more surprised to find, now she I was actually in the presence of lhe I man who controlled this vast coinI mercial enterprise, she did not feel I wobbly. | Geoffrey Matthews was favourably I impressed. i He was concerned with her manner | rather than her appearance, but in his I work he had found it necessary to I have girls who were pleasant to look I at. Many people would have been surt prised to know how much Geoffrey | Matthews relied on the pleasantness 5 of his staff in the fostering of his I business interests J ” Sit dowm,” he said, pointing to a b chair which was placed opposite his I desk. [ As Joan sat down, she felt his eyes on her. This gave her confidence. I She looked and felt completely at her ’ ease as he said: “You haven’t had a great deal of commercial experience? ” “ I’ve none at all.” said Joan, frankly. “ Age? ” asked Matthews.

“ Twenty-one.” t i “Ilniin!” Matthews frowned: that was hardly old enougii. And yet hiS present secretary wasn't a great deal older; and she was leaving him, very soon. In fact, she had told him of ; her coming marriage on lhe previous day, just before Derek Graham had telephoned him. On such small things did the fortunes and misfortunes of Joan Martin depend. He asked several Other questions, and nodded finally, asking her to wait. He went into the room marked private, and Joan could hear Hie murmur of conversation. A woman s xoice mingled with Matthews', until the door opened again and Matthews reappeared, followed by a neatly-clad and undoubtedly pretty girl—or -Avoman, Joan thought. She was probably twenty-six or seven. “ Miss Manders,” said Matthews, with a quick nod. “ She’s leaving me in two months’ lime, despite everything 1 can say.” Joan smiled, and made some formal comment. She hardly realised that the time was flying. Matthews eventually looked al his watch, af.er some twenty minutes of conversation which, although It had dealt mainly with business, seemed to have little or nothing Io do with Lhe prospect of work for Joan. Matthews looked at his present secretary as he said: “ It's nearly half past twelve, Miss Marlin.” Joan nodded, and looked al him, hardly knowing what to say. She missed lhe quick nod which Miss Manders gave. "Come along Monday,’’ said Matthews, "and let’s try you out, will you? Say a fortnight's trial?” Joan kept her head with difficulty. JI. seemed hardly credible that she should be a candidate for Miss Manders’ position—secretary to a man so obviously rich as Geoffrey Matthews. Hui she was. She left the building in a dream, but contact with ’Hie streams of people ami traffic soon brought her back to realities. But the glorious fact remained that she was going to start a job, even though It was only on trial, on the following Monday. She would have flushed with pleasure if she could have heard the conversation in Geoffrey Matthews’ office after she had left. ” She seems like enough,” said Matthews, Io Miss Manders. ’‘She'll be all right,” said the latter. “She’s capable. Mr Matthews, and 1 think she will pick up lhe job very well.” “If she’s half as useful as you’ve been,” said Matthews, in a rare moment of expansiveness, ” she will be very good indeed.” Miss Manders, who had worked for Geoffrey Matthews for four years, and 1 who had never heard him utter a

word of praise before, flushed to the roots of her hair. H was only natural that Joan, in her excitement, should call at the Graham Commercial School before going to Downs Road, that afternoon. Derek Graham who was not working at that moment, was obviously delighted that she was going to gel a trial for the job of Matthews' secretaryship. ” What kind of a firm are they?” Joan asked. She felt very much at home with this rather shy, and very serious young man. Derek shrugged his shoulders. ’• It’s difficult to say.” lie said. “Al least, I suppose it's difficult Io understand. for anyone whose previous experience, is—” “ Nil,” said Joan promptly.

They both laughed. “Matthews and Wyatt mix everything,” went on Derek. "They have a large insurance department, accident, legal and marine, they’re brokers, commission agents and shipping agents. They own one or two small factories, but for the most part, they’re interested in finance —the forming of companies and that kind of thing. Joan nodded. She did not fully understand all of it, but she gathered enough to understand that Matthews and Wyatt were not only big people, in the commercial sense, but that their activities covered a multitude of Hings. Strangely enough, she felt rz fear of the outcome of her trial at lhe office. Her confidence helped her a great deal. Just three weeks after that first interview with Geoffrey Matthews. Joan burst into Park View, anil raced along lhe passage towards Felicity, who was standing in the living-room. “I’ve got it I” she cried. “I’ve signed an agreement for a twelve months’ job, with a month’s notice either side. Felicity! Isn’t it wonderful.” “You lucky little scoundrel!’ . laughed Felicity, hugging her sister- ' “ Why, thousands of girls would give i their heads to have your chance. You can thank Derek Graham for that.” “ I shall be seeing him this evening," said Joan, witho-ul noticing the smile on Felicity’s lips, or at least without realising what it meant. It was al half past ten, when she reached the front gate of Felicity’s house, that she suddenly remembered that smile, and had an inkling of its meaning. Derek Graham, who had been taking another class of pupils for evening study that night, had taken the opportunity to walk from the school to Downs Road with Joan. He had poohpoohed the suggestion that she owed him anything for getting the job. “ If you hadn’t been suitable,” he • said, “ Matthews wouldn’t have taken you on, Miss Martin. 1 was only lhe intermediary.” “ I wouldn’t have had a ghost of a chance, without your help,” said Joan, warmly. And then Derek, who was standing by the gale with her, looked at her very slraightly, and there was an expression in his eyes which she had seen before, but which she had never understood. “ 1 hope I shall always be able to help you,” he said. “If you're ever in need, please come to me.” The pressure of his hand, as he had said good-night, had stung her- He knew, suddenly, overwhelmingly, that ; he was in love with her. In love! (To be continued.)