Leaves of Destiny

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 392, 28 June 1928, Page 5

Leaves of Destiny

By

Dorothea Gorbould

CHAPTER VII.— (Continued) Time passed monotonously enough for the next week or so. Rehearsals for the new revue to appear directly after Christmas were in full swing, and though Barbara was still in the chorus, she had to understudy Miss MacArthur, who, in her turn, understudied the leading lady. Therefore, Barbara might still get her chance. The girl felt singularly lonely and forlorn. She had no friends at the theatre, as she had told Donald Anstruther, and between herself and Lil MacArthur there existed only a sort of armed neutrality, which she always felt might at any time break out into open warfare. Barbara had received one letter from Mr. Anstruther within a few days of his departure, merely telling of his safe arrival at Collingham, and hoping that she had allowed Bates to drive her home from the theatre. The writer added that he intended being away till the middle of December, when he purposed returning to London to fetch Reggie, and requested as a favour that in the meantime the little boy might be fitted out with clothes suitable to his position in readiness for his visit to his grandparents for Christmas. The letter ended witti: “I will thank you for all you have done for Reggie when we meet again. I look forward to that time.—Yours ever, “D. Anstruther.” It was the beginning of November. Only a few weeks more and she would be left entirely alone! The thought filled Barbara with fear and dread; dread of the future—fear of she knew not what! She treasured Anstruther’s letter, however, and set to work to purchase with the money it contained a complete outfit foi- his little son, to the amazement and admiration of Mrs Bloggs, who could not understand Miss Denning spending so much of her earnings upon the child, who was nothing to her, while she herself was still in want of serviceable winter garments. But, then, Mrs. Bloggs did not know that the price of a new winter coat had been paid for one evening’s dressing up, and even now Barbara did not regret it. She could sell her pretty frock and wrap presently, but not yet—in case when Mr. Anstruther returned to town he might invite her out again: here Barbara would laugh at her own foolish dream, and the laugh would turn to little regretful tears. She had neither seen nor heard anything of Sir Lindsay Charters since Anstruther's departure, and from something Miss MacArthur said, believing he had left London, congratulated herself on being quit of his attentions. But one evening, on arriving at the theatre, she found a note from him inviting her to supper at the Medina Hotel, on the following evening—the note adding that he would see j her safely home afterwards. To this invitation Barbara promptly i Every tin of "Radium” Boot, Floor. 1 or Metal Polish contains a quality polish. Send in your coupons before June 30. 7

Author ot "A Fnendth.p,- «• His Fair Enemy.’ Held in Bondage.” Ac.

returned a coldly-worded refusal, to the effect that she always returned home as quickly as possible after the evening performance. There was an angry frown on the face of Sir Lindsay as he read the note. Then he laughed. “Clever little girl!” he muttered; “keeps me at arm’s length in order to make me more keen on gaining her goodwill. Well, you must not go too far, Miss Denning—a slight reference to our first meeting, which X gather has been carefully kept secret., may induce you to adopt a more friendly attitude toward me. We shall see.” The next morning, Barbara waylaid Bates as he passed her door, and begged him to be at the theatre half an hour earlier that evening as she wished to get home as quickly as possible, adding: “And—and Bates, If anyone should ask you about my having the car, I need not ask you to say——” “Of course, Miss, and excuse the liberty, but Mr. Anstruther told me about you not wanting Sir Lindsay Charters to see you home, and I was to prevent it. You see I know the gentleman, and him and me don’t feel quite friendly toward each other. I know too much about him.” “Then that is all right”—Barbara’s tone was relieved. “He has asked me to supper to-night and I have refused; and I was afraid he might try to make me change my mind; he said he would be at the stage door at 10.30.” “Well, we’ll be off before that, Miss, never fear,” and Bates chuckled to himself as he touched his cap and went on his way. For he had owed Sir Lindsay a grudge ever since the time just before the war when he had had to give evidence against him in a particularly unpleasant divorce suit, and the latter had revenged himself

by blacking the chauffeur’s character to his employers and losing him his situation. Each evening, alter Barbara's request that he would meet her earlier, found him at the stage door soon after ten o’clock, and there, about a fortnight later. Sir Lindsay, arriving with his car to try and persuade Barbara to accept his escort home, encountered him. The recognition was mutual. 1 “Hello, Bates!” was Sir Lindsay's greeting. “Back to your job, I see.” “Yes, sir ” “Doing well?” “Yes, sir.” “Hump. Whose car is this?” “It belongs to my employer, Sir Lindsay ” “That means you won’t tell me,” with a disagreeable laugh. “Well, perhaps you are wise ” At this moment Herbert Knowles came out of the stage door to tell Bates Miss Denning was coming. Sir Lindsay turned to him. “Has Miss Denning left yet?” he asked. “I haven’t seen her,” was the reply, “but it’s past her time, and a young lady went out about five minutes ago, didn’t she?” addressing Bates with a wink, which Sir Lindsay did not see. “You must have seen her.” “Yes, the young lady seemed in a hurry.” This was quite true, one of the chorus girls being the lady in question. “Oh, well, I wanted to speak to her, but it you say she has gone ” Sir Lindsay shrugged his shoulders, and turned away. He was just about to step into his car, drawn up at a little distance, when a voice, Barbara’s voice he recognised at once, said: “Oh, you are still here, Bates, I am glad—it is so late I was afraid you’d he gone ” Evidently something Herbert Knowles said hurried the girl into the car, for the door was shut and it moved quickly away before Sir Lindsay could reach it. “So —that was Miss Denning’s car,” he said to Knowles. “I wish I had known it. Does she always drive home?” “Yes —now she does,” was the reply, “and a jolly good thing, too!” and Knowles re-entered the stage-door slamming it behind him. “Impudent young cad!” w r as Sir Lindsay’s comment as he went back to his car. “I wonder who’s the owner of that car! I must set my wits to find out. Anstruther is in the North. Can it be Teddy Mordaunt? But on being closely questioned by his friend, Captain Mordaunt declared that he had only met Miss Denning twice since her engagement at the Diadem, and beyond being glad of her .success, took no further interest in her. And Sir Lindsay, strange to say, believed him. It was the first week in December. Any day might bring Mr. Anstruther now, Barbara said to herself with a strong feeling of happiness and exultation. That his coming would mean the terrible ordeal of parting with Reggie could not at present detract from the joy of seeing him once more; while deep down in her heart was the glimmer of hope that perhaps he might bring an invitation for herself to spend Christmas with his parents at Collingham Hall. The Diadem Theatre was to be closed for a fortnight preparatory to the production of the new revue in the first week in January and Barbara had been saving every penny she could in order to provide herself with clothes should such an invitation present itself. (To be continued.!

f A'avj is'ap Coat at Bert Marshall's,