THE LUCK OF THE LINDSAYS

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12612, 24 November 1926, Page 4

THE LUCK OF THE LINDSAYS

(PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.);

BY

MARGARET TYNDALE.

[COPYRIGHT.}

CHAPTER XIX.—KNIGHT ERRANT! Whatever result Gordon obtained by his visit ‘to Lady Violet and her cousin. Captain Conyngham. it was certainly productive of one thing—his ready consent to let his wife return to town when the summer was over, and allow her, under Lady Violet’s direction, to indulge in a certain amount of social gaiety. But if this proposal had not fallen in admirably with Gordon’s own plans, no potwer on earth would.have induced him to agree to it, even to please his best friend; but Lady Violet’s suggestion had so entirely' met with his approval, that it was a somewhat difficult matter for him to keep his deep personal satisfaction entirely in the background, and appear merely grateful for her kind offer. So, two months later found Stanley Gordon and his wife installed in a furnished flat in a smart neighbourhood.’ to Julia’s intense delight. There was one thing, however, which threatened to mar her happiness, and that was the thought of Adela. Julia’s letter to Donald had been forwarded to him in London by Thompson, for Adela and Miss Gunning were away, and from him the girl had learnt of her step-mother’s illness and the rtipture that had been caused between Adela and her husband by her (Julia’s) runaway marriage, the blame for which their father had unhesitatingly laid at his wife’s door. Donald’s letter had caused his sister a great deal of secret anxiety, for she could hot help recognising. how kind Adela had always endeavoured to he to her in the past, even though her affection had had no visible return; and now that it was too late, the girl would have d6ne anything within her power to have been able to make peace between her father and step-mother. As the days passed, and she gained a more intimate knowledge of the character of the man she had married, she frankly owned to herself that her step-mother’s warning had not been without some foundation. It had not taken the girl long to find out, that what Adela had told her with regard to Gordon’s object in wishing to marry her was more than true; but with a philosophy that Lady Violet Gilderoy would have believed incredible in so young a woman. Julia set herself to make the best of things now that her life was not so dull and uninteresting as regards social enjoyment as it had been. When matters ran smoothlr. she found Gordon by no means a dull eom'ripioh, if a so—unsatisfactory hopl**and: h»,t at fimrs her lif- was made anything but agreeable by his

moroseness and unsociability. At these times she did not venture to ask him for money for her own personal requirements, for he invariably met her demand with a surly refusal, and had given her to understand that her small income had long since dwindled away in providing them with the barest necessities of life—an explanation which, to keep the peace between them, Julia pretended to accept, in spite of the fact that she had suspicions that it was far from the truth. One day, in an unaccountable fit of generosity, Gordon promised to take his young wife to a theatre. Julia therefore dressed that evening with unusual care, anxious to appear to the best advantage should they encounter any of her husband’s smart friends. To her surprise, Gordon brought home two other men, one of whom was Captain Conyngham, the other a friend of longer standing—Harry Veraker. A wavo of disappointment swept over her as she heard the men’s voioes in the tiny hall of the flat, for she knew from previous experience that with Veraker to keep him company, and the possibility of an influx of other men later on in the evening, her husband would entirely disregard his promise and expect her to remain at home. 1 Tears of disappointment welled up, in Julia’s eyes as she thought- of the dull evening she would now have to spend, for this waß not the first by any means that she had been forced to endure during the past two weeks, since lady Violet Gilderov was confined to the house with a sharp attack of influenza.

Julia hastily brushed away her tears from her eyes as the door of the draw-ing-room opened to admit her husband and his friends. It was a curious coincidence that the girl disliked Harry Veraker as much as Adela had donp on the occasion of her first and onlv meeting with him. Julia of course knew nothing of the details of the tragedy that had threatened to darken her step-mother's life irreparably, for the subiect had been naturally too painful for Adela to wish to dwell linon it at any great length, nrtd she had neither the time nor the inclination to no into details on the night when cl, r had endeavoured to warn Julia against Gordon. The name of Harry Veraker bad naturally not been mentioned by Adela, -and Julia’s dislike of him, therefore, was not due to anv prejudice: there was something about the man that she could not. did not like, and she felt instinctively that his influence over her husband was not bv anv menns good. As Veraker held out his hand to her. Julia did her utmost to greet him naturally, but all the same he could not

help seeing by the coolness of the welcome that his frequent visits were becoming a source of irritation to her. He resented this treatment on the part of the wife of one of his best friends, aqd determined to' drop, a hint to .Gordon of that fact when a suitable opportunity should arise.

The unconscious look of‘rebellion in Julia’s brown eyes disappeared, however, when she greeted Edward Conynliam, and in spite of her disappointment at the prospect of a long evening at home, she felt it would not be so dull while he was there; but whether be would remain all the time Julia could not tell. She sincerely hoped!so, for then she could get him to tell her some more stories of the times when he was under fire—if her husband did not interfere and almost force him into playing cards. This was the first time Captain Conyngham had visited . the fiat, and Julia hoped that he knew nothing at all of poker or ecarte or bridge—games which signified nothing to her, but were nevertheless the svmbols of ehdless hours of boredom when in progress. “You look very smart to-night, Julia,” remarked Gordon, by- way of conversation, as he glanced approv-, ingly at bis wife, where she sat almost in silence at the head of the table, with Veraker on her right. “Do IP” she answered, a trifle coldly. “You forget that you promised to take me to the theatre to-night,” she could not refrain from adding, determined to let her husband know'that she was offended by his thoughtless disregard of her pleasure. “So I did,” said Gordon, pretending to look as though he had suddenly been made aware of an. important obligation that he had quite overlooked. “Well, never mind, we oan easily go another night.” “No, we can’t,” was the outspoken reply. “This is the last night of ‘The Broken Promise,’ as you know, Stanley.” Gordon flushed a little, and helped himself to some more bread in order to cover his temporary embarrassment. There was a slightly awkward pause, much, to Veraker’s amusement, and he wondered a trifle maliciously how his friend would deal with this young wife of his who was already threatening to prove more than -a match for him. To bis disappointment, the matter took an unexpected turn, for Captain Conyngham said, quietly: “I think 1 can manage so that Mrs Gordon is not disappointed. As it happens I have three seats for ‘The Broken Promise,’ it being my intention to take my mother and Lady Violet Gilderoy, who, of course, cannot leave the bouse just vet; so if Mrs Gordon would caro to come with ns, I can promise her a good seat, but nothing very special in the way of company.” Julia gave an involuntary exclamation of delight, which was instantly suppressed by a threatening glance from her husband: “But. my dear Conyngham.” said Gordon suavely to his guest, who had not failed to remark the look, “we really can’t let you run nwav like that, you know. I hare asked ouite a lot of people to meet you to-night, and they will be so disappointed if you fail me.” “I am sorry,” was the polite reply. “As a matter of fact. I had made a mistake about the date of the last performance—l really thought it was tomorrow night, until T was reminded hv Mrs Gordon ; 60 if she would care to

come, my mother, I know, will be very pleased.” “My wife must entirely please herself, of course,” said Gordon, with as -rood a grace aa possible, although inwardly raging at this unexpected blow to his plans for the evening, yet feeling it would be decidedly undiplomatic for him to refuse to let Julia accept -Gonyngham’s invitation if he wished to keep on good terms with the rich young officer. (To be continued.)