LOVE'S DARK JOURNEY

Waikato Times, Volume 126, Issue 21033, 8 February 1940, Page 3

LOVE'S DARK JOURNEY

MARGARET COOKE

CHAPTER XVlll—(Continued) i There was no victory without a ! struggle, no reward without its price. \ 1 And h\s struggle must be a patient i one, yet one which he believed now j might be rewarded with victory be- ! lore many months were past. While Judy found herself at the ; cross-roads. She loved Mark Renway. It was madness, but it was true. He had hurt her beyond words, he had deliberately snubbed her, and yet she could not get the image of him out of her heart. That image fought now with the declared love of a man who was superb in everything he did and said, 1 a man whom, she knew, would gladly lay down his life for her. And under the constant comfort of his presence, under the seige he was laying to her heart, her defence might fall. And she wished that it could be sol With all her heart she wished she could forget Mark Renway. and fill ! his place with the image of James | Martin. But she knew that the heart could not be ruled, But one day It was on the evening of that Sunday, a day which Judy told herself would stand out tor ever in her mind, when the thing happened that seem- j ed to cast her down to the very depths of despair. She picked up a paper which had been delivered that morning, and turned to the picture pages. Then her eyes narrowed and her lips tightened as she stared down at a photograph of Mark Ren way and Rene Willett. Beneath it were the words: “The engagement is announced between ” But she could not go on. Her eyes were blinded with tears, and the paper dropped from her nerveless hands. So it was over, her love was broken. Now, with the evidence in front of her, she knew beyond all shadow of doubt that she loved the man who was engaged to another woman, who had entered her life, and, it seemed, had ruined it, and ruined her chances of happiness. CHAPTER 19. It had taken longer than Rene Willett had hoped to bring Mark Ren - way to the point of proposing to her. but the understanding had been reached at last. During the last few months he had bought her jewellery and other presents which, although he did not realise it. had been laid aside so that she could borrow j money with which to maintain the St. John’s Wood house. The many people to whom she owed money had seen the increasing friendliness between her and the rich explorer, and had been prepared to wait longer for the settlement of their accounts. But now Rene realised that she must hasten the marriage with all possible speed. Mark Renway was much the same, these days, as he had always been, i He was not altogether blinded to ! Rene’s faults, but he told himsell j that her beauty more than made up : for it. Moreover, since the affair at | Tanton when he had had tea in the i Lindene Tea Gardens, he had succeeded in pushing Judy Frensham to

the back of his mind. She had been hostile towards him and towards Rene, and she had been with the man Martin. For a while Mark had told himself that marriage was madness. But he j had found the fascination of Rene j considerable, and he had gradually i come to depend on her for company, for the good times that he wanted. She heiped him to forget things that he wanted to forget. And he began to realise that he owed her marriage. Pie was honest with himself up to a point. He was not altogether in , love with Rene Willett. But no one ; could have failed to feel her allure. 1 and her loveliness sometimes made I his pulses beat faster, j She was of his kind. She would | distinguish any home of which she ! was the head, and he knew that he j could depend on her. Moreover, if J that wanderlust returned at any time j it would not be impossible for him !to leave her, perhaps for a few months, perhaps for a year. She* would understand—- ' There had been little romance about their engagement. They had been out together for the evening, and he had returned with her to the St. John’s Wood house. As they had entered the hall : —with her key, for the servants had retired—he had helped her off with her cloak, and then pressed his lips , against her hair. “Oughtn’t we to get married. ! Rcne°” They were words which she had . ! prayed to hear, but they had come j as a shock that night. Her poise, for once, was shattered. “Oh. Mark!” “In love?” he asked, schooling his emotions perfectly and smiling down on her now. , “Mark—you know I am. Despot’I ately.” “And I with you,” he said, although she knew that he was not speaking the whole truth. “ And you think you could bear marriage with me?" “Mark, it doesn’t seem possible—” “It is,” he said, and his white teeth gleamed as he smiled at her, and then they were in each others’ arms i “And we’ll be married soon?” The J woman spoke, softly and gently, as j she nestled against him. Mark Ren- ; way smiled, and she could hardly I understand his expression. “When you like, my darling.” j “I’ve—l’ve prayed for this,” said i Rene, and he knew that she was tell- I ing the truth now. and he realised ! in its fulness for the first time the strength of her love. It surprised \ him. for he had never realised she j could feel for him as strongly as she i did. “It’s seemed so long, Mark. I i thought that you—” “We’ll make it soon,” he promised her. The announcement was made im- [ mediately, and a statement was given < to the press that they would be married by the end of the year. The actual announcement and the realisation that the big step had at last been taken seemed to release some cf the more passionate forces in Mark Ren way. He was a different man. and he seemed furiously happy for the next few weeks. Almost too happy! - (To Be Continued.)