AFTER RELEASE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10585, 16 March 1912, Page 2

AFTER RELEASE.

OUR SERIAL,

By VIOLET M. FLINN,

"By Devious Paths," Etc

OHAPTEJR IV—Con tinned

~ It was not the first visit that Ludworth had paid to tho descreetly shaded, softly carpeted, and beautifully ii decorated showrooms of Madam Jaqueline. She was the fashionable dressmaker of the year, and her rooms were " thronged with women of lofty names and supercilious manners, who cringed before the stout woman with the heady eyes and accepted her dictum as tho ruling law in fashion. f Ludworth always enjoyed au hour in tho place. The silence ; the shadowed light; the tall, slender assistants in '" beautifully fitting gowns; tho absorbed and intent purchasers; the scheming and trickery, the farce and folly of it all, amused and interested him like a chapter from a. French novel. Madame's smile, as she followed his aunt, was discreetly graduated. Ho paid none of her bills as far as she could discover, but there was always the possibility that he might do so in the future. She had seen Lady Hermioue once and longed to dress .ier as j a result. Lady Hermione would do her j infinitely more credit than Lady Flora ever could, though she would never bo a better customer. Fluff was a puppet in Madame's hands, and when, after ordering half a dozen gowns as a sop to her tyrant, she approached the real object of her visit, it was with tho manner of a criminal suing for mercy. ■ j "That white <ch iff on frock, madame! . I —l have returned it!' 0,1-0 i~ol;-<-.cl ax j Ludworth appealingly as madame raised her eyebrows uncomprehendingly. "I believe a chiffon frock has arrived,' she said. "I could not imagine - why it had been returned." ? "They—they were to have been pin!' " roses,' Fluff said waveringly. "So very ordinary. The yellow are ' expuisitely painted, and " ' "I —I hate yellow,' Flora cried. "1 wanted pink." Sho was so plainly on the verge of 3 tears that Ludworth plunged into the r fray. "Yellow is a detestable- colour." "But not as it is in these flowers, b your grace. Perhaps if you saw the robe? The roses are hand-painted. Miss Edley, tell them to send down the painted chiffon robe." There was an impressive pause before the robe arrived. Madame's voice was ominously suave as she bade Miss Edley hold it on her arm that tho duke might better see its beauties. "I is certainly very well done," the duke said gravely, staring at it critically as lie tilted lias chair. "Decidedly pretty too. It is a shame to waste such good work on such flimsy material." Lady Flora's lip quavered. "I wanted pink roses. I never coulo stand yellow. I would rather have a new frock than wear that." "It would be a shame to waste this," •Ludworth said. His attention hr.d been riveted by the girl who was holding the frock. She was a typical shop assistant, one of the hundreds .'to be " .met in tho London streets in the early 'morning—thin, anaemic, youthfully protty. She looked oh unconscious of < the discussion, but he had a strange sense that she knew him and that they . had met liefore. "We can put it in stock," madame said in a tone that .plainly proved that she did not approve her suggestion, "and make another for your ladyship, but it would not bo ready for the occa- < sion you require. Miss Grainger could J not possibly paint another one in so ] short a time." j - Fluff looked more despondent than ' ever. "Happy thought!" Ludworth suddenly said, calling the girl to memory. She was the one whom he had noticed several times in Mulgrave Square. Madame and Flora looked at him in surprise; a very faint quiver appeared on Miss Edley's lips. "Have you .a suggestion to make, your grace?" madame asked. "Oh, no —er —yes. Why not alter the colour of some of the larger flowers and put in, some decidedly pink buds —there could lie a spray or two down there and one fir two stuck in here. What do you t-ivirk, madame,?" He was speaking utterly at random to hide his confusion, but his suggestion seemed to clear the air. "That might be possible*;" madame conceded graciously. "I am not a 1 painter, .but Miss Edley, just see if Miss Grainger is still here, and ask her if sho will come. Her opinion will bo thobest." The artist made her appearance and listened with a grave little inclination of her head to madame's explanations. "Is tho duke's suggestion feasible then?" Sho regarded her work thoughtfully and critically. "I could alter the colour with.vit difficulty," she said at length, "but I am afraid tho design would bo too heavy for the garment if more roses were added." At the first words she uttered Ludworth started. "The Voice" had spoken again. He had heard it and recognised it when he had given up all hope of ever hearing it again. 1 The discussion continued, but he j took no part in if. Drawn a little into the background he wias staring eagerly at the girl who ,with a fortune in her throat, was painting dresses for a live. | lihood. Up to tho present it had been j of the voice lie had thought, hut now ; it was the girl's personality that impressed him. Sho was a girl, tall and j graceful, with a quiet distinction of j stylo that owed nothing to dress. Sho j was not pretty, bub she was noticeable. Even in her black coat and .skirt she

Author of "The Master Passion, "What Shall It, Profit?" "V«waa."

» stood apart from her fellows, stamped by a quality of individuality that they did not possess. The assistants who surrounded her ran in a groove with which she had no connection. Ladworth remembered the quick, dexterous movement with which 1 - tvirl released herself from his detaining grasp, and, though tho recollection made him flush, he no longer wondered why she j did so. ■ I It seemed to Ludworth that her face i was faintly familiar. He seemed to t have seen it before —the small head with the luxuriant hair parted on tho broad, intellectual forehead, the straight brows, the nostrils, the firm lines of the sensitive lips, the sombre eyes that regarded all with such grave and impersonal interest. "Diana!" he said suddenly. "That is it, the statue of Artemis, the virgin huntress." The smile pleased him. He could fancy this girl was not unlike the j clear-eyed unapproachable goddess who I roamed in solitary freedom over her j hill slopes and punished intrusion with j blindness. "Ludworth; what do you think?" Fluff's voice was peevishly helpless. "I don't like the idea of altering it. I won't have it at all. You can throw it into the'rag bag, madame, and I will have another." Madame frowned. A flash of consternation came into Miss Edley's face, and Miss Grainger became pale. Ludworth saw and interpreted tho meaning. In all probability Miss Grainger would not be paid for her work, or | would lose future commissions. He was suddenly determined that Fluff would have the dress and should wear it. "The point of a woman's dressing always comes to me that she have what no other, woman has, eh, madame? Now I call this frock lovely and unique Fluff. I am sure no one else will have one like it. You'd figure in every fashion paper. I'd see to that!' he added mentally. "You'd be a sensation." j She wavered visibly. "But I never could 'wear yellow." "My dear girl"—with pleasant determination and flattering emphasis—"you can wear anything! You'll look adoringly charming! Yes, you must have it," and I will send you a bouquet. What ought it to be?" ' "Chrysanthemums, gold red, brown and white," Miss Grainger answered, as he looked at her, "and, if relief is needed, a touch of purple." The words came from her lips like a phrase of exquisite melody. The musical flow, the full, rich perfection of each note was beyond praise. He could not understand how anyone could listen to it unmoved or without recog« nising its charm. He tried to discover something about her when Fluff had gone to bo fitted, but madame professed (ignorance on the subjoot. He did not like to question , her directly. 1 Still, it was with decided elation that he once more got into the ■ carriage beside Fluff. He found himself proposing a dozen schemes for becoming acquainted with her, and that every, one presented the insuperable obstacle that in. no circumstances could it be carried out was a matter of small consequence in his e--1 lated mind. Ho tried to enlist Fluff's j interest a little, but it was a signal failure. She was not musical, and bad barely noticed the artist at all, and had no desire to figure as anyone's patroness except her own. She elected to lunch at the latest fashionable restaurant—a big banquet, ing hall, all glare and glitter, with actresses and duchesses jostling shoulder to shoulder, and the noisy streams of a so-called Hungarian band adding its clamour to the clatter of "dishes and he babel of hundreds of tongues, The place was very crowded, but as thev made their way between the tables "a jovial voice hailed them, ami they saw Blagg sitting alone at a flower-decked table. "Thought you'd come here," he said, beaming at his wife. "I saw you driving together in Regent Street, so I guessed you'd come here, bo r . just thought I'd surprise you. Nice kind of wife you are, madam,' admiring her openly, to the unconcealed amusement of a theatrical party near by. "Gallivanting off with a young man, and lunching with him iii public restau- ■ rants. I'll be thinking of a separation if this continues. She looks very well, doesn't she, Ludworth? The little stay in the country has done her good. Too much town is good for neither man. nor beast. We are off to Nice, I_ expect you have heard. That "-minds me, Fluflie, I have asked an old friend to lunch with us. Met him at the office. Had no idea he was in England. You know him too, Ludworth, ho says. His name is " "Tresidder, by jove," Ludworth sail f laughing, his young eyes distinguishing the tall, spare figure hesitating in the doorway. "You know him, Fluff. He was my father's great friend." Flora smiled assent. She id not appear very delighted at the meeting. She had a groat objection to meeting peoplo whose recollections belonged to past years, and who possessed a knack of rcmiiuliug liar tnat- sto? «",<> »<>t n « young as she felt. But Tresidder soon put her at her ease. He bent with grave courtliness over the little hand that Flora ex tended, and smiled in friendly fashion into the faded eyes hardly visible between tho blistered lashes. (To be continued.)