The Brundage Plot

Waikato Times, Volume 111, Issue 18625, 3 May 1932, Page 4

The Brundage Plot

(By E. C. BULEY.)

| A Serial Story of Mystery, Love and the Turf. |

p (Author of “ The Mad Tremaynes," “ The Wives of David," etc., etc.)

SYNOPSIS. Marlse Formby, me famous cinema star, is determined that her wedding: shall eclipse all the fashionable and spectacular weddings or the past. Arrived at the Church, her beautiful smile Is not disarranged even when she discovers the bridegroom, Lord Burr-and-Asche, pronounced Brandish,, known to his intimates at Eton and Oxrord as Bonzo, is missing. „ “ That woman has put one over on me, she remarks to Jimmy Keegan, her partner and producer. “ That woman ” being Lady Burr-ar.c-Asche, Bonzo’s mother, who, determined to save her son (seven years’ Marise’s Junior) from this woman who merely wants a title, has that morning sent to the papers the following notice: “ In company with his cousin Lord Burr-and-Asche left England by aeroplane this morning, for a big game shooting expedition in East Africa Lord Bu.rr-and-Asche Is expected to bo absent from England for some years.” “ I’ll get even with her for this trick if 1 have to spend the rest of my life on it,” vows M.arise. Jane Chalmers, half-sister to Lady Burr-and-Asche, accompanies the latter to Sandown Parle Races, for which event Lady Burr-and-Asche has her steeplechaser, Jabez, running. Immediately this Is known Marlse enters her horse Hummingtop. An exciting chase takes place, during which Hummingtop throws his rider,, Burke, out of the saddle. Riderless, Hummingtop makes for the next fence. Suddenly a llgure in tweeds dashes forward, catches the loose reins, and brings Hummingtop cleverly to a standstill. Swinging himself into the saddle like an expert, he urges Hummingtop In pursuit of the ncld. Can he catch the others arter such a check? Yes, he now has second place, now In pursuit of the leader. Amidst a terriilc din Hummingtop races past the winning post, beating Jabez by a neck. Lady Burr-and-Asche and Jane are struck by the likeness or llummingtop’s rider to Bonzo. Marise also ses in him an older and more manly edition of her once brldegroom-to-be. "Who are you?” she asks. “Name of Brundage,” Is the answer. Who Is Brundage? That is the question on everyone’s lips. Marlse determines to find out. She asks him to ride Hummingtop in the Grand National. He consents, but beyond the fact that he has just come from Australia, where he has a sheep rarm, Brundage Is very reticent. Marlse scents a chance to make “that woman” squirm. “I’ll bet there’s some old Burr-and-Asche scandal to be dug out; and dug out It shall be,” she soliloquizes. Lady Burr-and-Asche confesses to Jane that she has a good Idea who Brundage is. “Brunage Is the name of our family skeleton. The story begins over a hundred years ago, when the eldest son of the eleventh Lord Burr and Asche had to lice the country. Good care was taken that he never returned. When the old lord died, the title was assumed by the second son. But the real Baron was not dead, by any means. He was alive and kicking, out in Australia.” “The absent one took the name of Brundage, which Is very near the bone, you’ll agree, married and settled down to be a wool baron, instead of a titled one. He got rich, and this is his grandson, or greatgrandson, who may have different views rrom Ills ancestors about an arrangement that has endured for more than a century. The family skeleton, and In Marise Formby’s hands!” Jane determines to enter the fight, and sets out to make the acquaintance of Brundage. Frank Burke, the jockey, is an angry man when he hears that Brundage is to bo given the mount at Alntree on the horse which he had been engaged to ride. He consults one Aleck Pawie. Marise receives a visit from Fay Dclacourt, a one time secretary to Lady Burr-and-Asche. In return for a chance to start on the films she tells Marise that she has every reason to believe that Mr Brundage is the real Lord Burr-and-Asche. She also mentions that she knows where certain ramiiy papers aro kept which would prove it. Marlse sees a chance or still becoming Burr-and-Asche, and sets out to attract Brundage. She is somewhat ruffled, however, at finding Jane and Brundage on familiar terms. Frank Burke, the Jockey, is an angry man when he hears that Brundage Is to bo given the mount at Alntree on the horse which he has been engaged to ride. Ho consults one, Aleck Pawie. The result of these two rascals’ conversation Is that at the Grand National Burke deliberately rides to bring Hummingtop down.

torted. “Didn't you just tell me that Marise suggested her engagement to Bonzo by using the newspapers? Now she’s ploked on Brundage. I never paid much attention to what you said at Liverpool, but you were right, Liss. What she has overlooked is that Brundage is not Bonzo, by any means.” "Supposing you 'are right, what is he likely to do?” “That will be worth seeing,” Jane said, smiling as she considered possibilities. “I should think he would move at once. He told me at Liverpool that he would be seeing me presently. Liss, will you promise to be nice to him if I bring him here?” Lady Burr-and-Asche looked very troubled. “Jane, dear, my conscience is pricking me," she said. “For all I know, he may intend to marry you,, and then advance his claim. No. please don't exclaim. I’ve no right to be keeping all this under my own hat. My duty is to the family into which I married; you can see that.” "It certainly is a mix-up,” Jane agreed. “I’ve packed Bonzo off to Africa, and told him to keep out of the way,” Melissa continued. “I’ve been made to suffer damnably, for doing what I considered my plain duty. And now I’m running up to town, Jane; to pul the whole matter in the hands of Sharpies. I expect that he knows all the facts about the Australian family. If not, he has to be told them, for the responsibility is too much for me.” “I suppose you must," Jane admitted reluctantly. “But'do be careful Melissa, not to convey the impression that Brundage is hostile. You know what lawyers are, Make them see that Marlse has made all the trouble.” “I oan only put the facts before Mr Sharpies; he must form his own opinion."

CHAPTER XVI. Jane Chalmers had her horse Greygown saddled, for a solitary ride over the downland. It was fairly dull in Berkshire. The visitors had gone, and Melissa had remained in London. She was consulting with her lawyers, and arranging the transfer of her household to her London flat, for the spring. Whether she should cast in her lot with Melissa in London, or return to her own studio in Chelsea, was one of the matters which Jane had to decide. She was inclined toward the studio again, because Melissa’s letter, received that morning, informed her that Bonzo had been recalled by cable from Kenya. Melissa and her friends were all very well; but Bonzo and his set were rather more than Jane could endure. There was just the possibility, also, that Melissa might not want her there. From the tone of the letter which her sister had written from London, Jane inferred a lack of confidence in her. Not on Melissa’s part, of course but on the part of Melissa’s legal advisers. Every line of the letter breathed a caution and reticence not natural to Lady Burr-and-Asclie; but evidently inspired by Mr Sharpies. Jane wanted to he reasonable about ■it, if she could. But she felt depressed, and not a little hurt, at the way in which the Brundage affair had been taken out of her hands. Given a little more time, she could have settled all Melissa’s worries and doubts. Jane further felt that if anything could drive a man like Brundage into the hostile camp, it would be just such action as might be expected from Melissa’s legal advisers.

Her gloomy meditations were interrupted by a man at a distance and afoot, who started running toward her, and signalling her to stop. She turned to meet him, wondering who he might be. Certainly he was not a local product, with his loose-fitting clothes and wide-leaved hat. “You’re Miss Chalmers, aren’t you?” he asked, when within speaking distance. Jane nodded. An Australian, hawkbeaked, lean, and brown! “Then I’m to say that Winsome Hoof is going down to Lingfleld races. The Boss said I was to toll you.” “Mr GodsoH?” Jane asked. “Godscll? No!” lie answered, with ineffable contempt, “Brundage of Ballalong.” “Thank you. I don’t know you, do I?” Jane asked. “Name of White. Snowy White, they call me." “Snowy,” Jane repeated. “Yes, most hoys named White get that nickname at school. And the Clarks are Nobby, though I never knew why.” “’N most Williams’s are called Bricky,” he supplemented. “Ever notice what a lot of Williams’s have got red hair?"

CHAPTER XV. (Continued.) “How perfectly rotten 1” Jane said. She picked up the teapot, and began to pour. She was still pouring when the tea had filled cup and sahcer, and had run over the breakfast tray. She had to put a good face on it; but she knew now how much she cared. “I suppose," Jane managed to say, “I mean, there can be no doubt about it, Lissa?" Her voice pleaded for a reasonable doubt, but Melissa never noticed. “Listen to this I" she said, sitting on the bed and busy with the crumpled newspaper. There was a maddening delay, while she smoothed it and found the right page and the right column. Jane desired to tear it from ■her hands, or to scream; but she maintained a very creditable patience. “Grand National Romance," began Melissa, in her bitterest tones. “Rumoured engagement of a .cinema star.” “Rumoured?" Jane interposed. "That’s the way they put it," Melissa agreed. “Listen, and say what you think of It." “As persistent rumours have been In circulation, ever since the Grand National Steeplechase, crediting Miss Marise Formby, the famous cinema star, with a romantic engagement, and the intention of an early marriage, the ‘Record’ decided to set all doubts at rest by seeking information from Miss Formby herself." “And sho denies it!" Jane shouted. “ ‘You may say from me,' Miss Formby was good enough 'to inform our representative over the telephone, ‘that these definite statements are entirely premature. I have, of course, heard a great deal about the rumour to which you refer, and am not silly enough to pretend Ignorance of it.’ ” “That’s a good one," Jane interrupted. “Oh, do shut up," Melissa implored. “Listen, will you?” “ ‘The man whose name has been mentioned is a very good friend of mine, and I have the greatest admiration for him as a sportsman and a comrade. But we arc so far from being officially engaged that I could not even tell you where he is at the present lime. As you know, 1 am a very busy woman; but if 1 ever have tho time and inclination for a wedding, my public will not have it sprung on them as a surprise.’ ” “Liss, you are an old Meanie!” Jane sighed comfortably, “you scared me stiff, when you came in like thal, saying Brimdage was engaged lo Marise Formby. That’s just a film stunt.” “But she means Brundage,” Melissa asserted. "That’s why they refer lo the Grand National. They could hardly say it. plainer, iT they printed his name. Besides, Hint’s, the way she started on Bonzo. She put it in his head in •marry her, by gel ting gossip published in the newspapers.” “And now she's proposing to Brundage in the same way," Jane agreed. "Fancy proposing marriage ’through a press agent. It is pretty devilish, too, for the man cannot come forward and deny 1 he truth of a rumour circulated in that. form. R would be fitting the cap to his own head." “But he cannot let it pass, unless ho means to marry her,” Melissa argued, “Why are you so sure that he has nothing to do with this?" “You said it yourself*!:’ Jane ro>

“I know one,” Jane volunteered. “But we eall him Ginger." "Same thing," Snowy said solemnly. “Well, so long, Miss Chalmers." “One moment!" Jane begged. "What was it you said? Brundage of what?" “Brundage of Ballalong." "But what is Ballalong?" "Sheep station," Snowy said, spitting on the ground. “It is out-back.” “Do tell me some more about it,” Jane pleaded. "Why, it —It’S pretty big,” he said. “Over a million acres. Shore 00,000 sheep last season." A million acres!” Jane repeated. "That’s—let me see. Oh, no, surely not. That’s over 1500 square miles." “There or the-cabouts,” Snowy agreed. “Everybody knows Ballalong. It’s being run at a dead loss, I reckon, with wool at one and nine a pound.” “But this is awfully interesting,” Jane said, though she had never expected in find interest in the price of wool. “Tell me, Snowy, what ought wool to bring?” “About three bob a pound,” Snowy I old her. “It’s down by nearly a half, Miss Chalmers. That’s why it looks like Australia was going bung.” “What a shame!” Jane sympathised. “.Now tell me about Brundage’s horse. Why docs he call it Winsome Hoof?" “Because that is what, the skin is expended to do —win some oof,” Snowy explained, with a slow, reluctant grin. “1 should ha' thought you’d been on to that one.” “I ought lo have been," Jane confessed. " “I’m not, always so slow, Snowy.” “you’ll do for me,” Snowy said simply. “So long for the present, Miss Chalmers.” He lifted bis hat, and Jane felt she had been paid more than a mere compilment. Her cheeks were burning, for there was a sure implication in the approving phrase. She rode home, considering those- of her friends who might be likely lo attend Dingfleld park races: for she wanted to be 1 here, and she could not very well go unaccompanied. After a busy hour at. the -telephone, she found that the Talbots were for Liugflcldj and wsuld £e glad if she

would make one in the car, and use the spare lady’s club pass. Mrs Talbot, who was young and smart, and known to her friends as Jennifer, was very eloquent on the way down, about a new system which she had discovered, for operation on the daily double, conducted by the totalisator.

“It’s quite simple, and dead sure,” she boasted. “Did you ever notice, Jane, that if any of your friends tell you a sure winner, the beast invariably runs unplaced.” “Of oourse, I’ve noticed it,” Jane agreed. “That's why I never bet a? the races."

“But a totalisator double ticket only costs ten shillings,” Jennifer argued. “That’s not really gambling, is it? The puzzle is to And the winners of the third and fifth races. My system is to go to everybody I know, and ask what they think will win those races. And every time somebody tips me a horse for either race, I strike it off the card.”

“'I see what you mean," Jane approved. “Jolly bright idea, Jennifer.” “Yes,” Mrs Talbot continued. “Presently I’m left with the horses that nobody thinks are able to win. And those, of course, are the horses that always win, don’t you think? And if ever I do strike the double by my system, I’ll get something worth winning, you see. A thousand pounds, or something, for ten shillings." “I think I’ll play that game," Jane decided. “The ordinary sort of betting is not fun.. When you win, you get twenty-five shillings, or something that’s no earthly use. And when you lose, the man who made the bet for you is fussy about taking his pound hack.” The tote double’s different,” Jennifer promised. “I get a real kick out of it.” “And I save money," her husband put in. “So everybody is pleased.” “By the way,” Jane asked, “do you know anything of a horse called Win-

some Hoof?" Derek Talbot smiled. “I’ve been told to back it by about a score of people, he said. “It’s about the hottest racing tip of the season.” t“And it belongs to that Australian man,” Jennifer added. “The man who is to marry Marise Formby. You ought to be interested, Jane; they say he is something to do with Bonzo Burr-and-Asche.” “Yes," Jane said steadily. “I am interested, naturally. Melissa is worried to death, owing to the rumours that ’Marise Formby is circulating. She has been particularly busy, since her disappointment at Liverpool." “But is there nothing behind the rumours?” Jennifer asked, for she was a very blunt young woman. “People are bound to talk, aren’t they, when two men arjs so much alike, in looks and name, as this Australian and Bonzo Burr-and-Asche,” “And do they say that Marise is enga/ed to this man?” Jane had to ask, “That’s the story,” Derek said. “It was all in the papers; and Marise denied it in a way that made people think there was a good deal in the yarn.” “Well, I don’t believe a word of it,” Jane said hotly. “Mr Brundage happens to be rather a friend of mine, you see. And I think Marise has fastened this rumour on him, in an abominable fashion." "Have I dropped a brick" Jennifer asked “I’m sorry, Jane; I didn’t know that he was a pal of yours.” He’s a good sportsman,” Jane continued, “and that stuff about Marise Formby is simply bilge." Jane thought it well to prepare her friends, in this way, for what she expected to happen; for she interpreted the message delivered to her by Snowy White to mean that Brundage would be present at Lingfleld. Nor was she mistaken; for almost the first people she saw in the paddock were Marise and her sister Lall, with George Winterbrook; and talking to

them, in the most amioable fashion, was Brundage himself. He had his back turned in Jane s direction, as she and her friends walked to the members’ enclosure; but Marise saw her and recognised her by a bow and a smile. “In spite of what you say, Jane, Jennifer said, with a touch of malice, “I think your friend Mr Brundage looked quite happy Just now." “Let’s not talk about it, then, Jane suggested. “We have to find the winners of this double, haven t we? Suppose we tout all the people we know?” She was not likely to show them how disturbed she felt. She was more than disturbed; Jane was shaking with jealous anger. If the man had wanted to give colour to the rumour which Marise Formby was spreading, he could not have chosen a more effective method. It was the last thing Jane had expected to witness; and that she had been whistled down to the races to look on at it made her rage. (To be continued.)