The Romance of a Business Girl.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10717, 30 October 1912, Page 2

The Romance of a Business Girl.

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GRAPTKR IX. (Continued.) "To i.hi.- ;-tr:inge Frenchman you told ti'.:tt -■■L.irh you should have kept sacred?" "Ho isn't a stranger," said Phil d«1 fiantly. "J have known him for weeks And what's the mutter with Frenchmen? They have heart and soul; they are passionate —they know how to love. I hate your frozen statues; I hate your cold-blooded Englishmen. I am an Englishwoman, and I count that a misfortune. Monsieur Ouveilia is a famous airman—he will be rich soon. He is one of the mast daring aviators in the world, and he wants a [partner— a -*oman as ..daring us.Jiimself. That is a great attraction, and I have consented to go back to France, with him. I must go somewhere. ;Good-by!" ' She broke off suddenly, and, springing to her feet, turned the handle of the door. "Phil, you are mad! Yoy do not realise the horrible thing you are doing—you do not meant it. Oh, Phil!"!" she implored. "I know all about it. I've given it the deepest thought," seoffed Mrs Mayhew. "You will soon be reading in the papers of. the exploits of Madame Brentini that is to be my professional name, the greatest airwoman in'the world. And I hope I shall get smashed upat the finish." She opened the door with a. swift movement, and sped away. "Phil—Phil!" cried Serena,

She jumped up, and followed her to the gate. She shouted again, but Phil was off at a rapid pace, and refused to hear. "I won't believe it," Serena thought. She was visibly distressed; she locked and unlocked her hands. Phil had quite disappeared, and she turned to go indoors. Captain Vance was standing in the hail, gazing a t her with shrewd inquisitiveness; "Your friend went in a. hurry, Miss Fleming. I remembered who she was after a bit. At first sight the likeness'is astonishing." j "Mr. Carling was deceived once — some distance away, and at riigM. I am troubled about her —she is so erratic." "She's a fool!" Vance said shortly. "The sort' of woman who will always be in a tangle of trouble." Serena shut the front door. "She needs' help, not unkind thoughts and actions." "Very likely; one of those who take all, and give nothing. Don't'let I her spoil your. life. We shall soon be [ losing you, MilJ Fleming, and Mrs j Vance and I are sorry already. You are a good, girl, and deserve good fortune." "I never heard you talk R o much before," Serena smiled. "I have been very comfortable here, and you and Mrs Vance will ever have a warm corner in my heart."

"Thank yon. Miss Fleming." , He paused, and stared at the wall. "I wanted to tell you that I have had a good many inquiries about your friend and one man said that she was his runaway wife." "Captain Mayhew?" "A tall gentleman. He didn't men. tion his name. I could give no information. Your friends were no affair of mine. I thought that I ought to tell you for your own good. She is willful, silly—mad 1 Dn't let her spoil your life." "Shank you, Captain Vance. That would be quite impossible. I have been trying to reason with her I told her not to come here again made up in that annoying fashion, and sho was angry, that's all."'' Vanco nodded in a satisfied way, smiled, and left her. Serena's hopeful and happy plan s for that day were sent away. For an hour she sat thinking— anxiously—disconnectedly. For inspiration, she tried to follow Mrs Mayhew's movements, hut, naturally, the result was inconclusive and unsatisfying. Then she wrote a letter to Phil, earnest, affectionate, and pleading. This insane flight with Monsieur CuveilI a should be stopped at all 'hazards. The man must bo a scoundrel, though to the French mind an escapade of the kind meant little enough. But with Jim Carling nt Birmingham, and Captain Mayhew at Monte Carlo, Serena was helpless. Matters would have to take their course. CHAPTER X.

THE WORM IN THE MUD. From Saturday until Monday was a restless, tantalizing spell for Serena. Her thoughts and anxieties wore divided between Jim and Mr s Mayhew.

BY F, L. DACRE Author of "A Fleet of Dreams," '"Hilar Money," "'The Shade -.• ,<• sbnm ( \" ".A Phantom of the Past," Held in Bondage otc.

I She had vision:-:, of poor Phil rushing headlong to ruin, and as the hours dragged slowly along sho bitterly reproached herself for doing nothing to save her friend. Then there was Jim ' and his people. They knew all that ho could tell them about her by thi.s time. What would his mother and sister i think of the suddenly projected marriage? What his father would say or do never entered into her calculatoins.. It was the woman who would! he critical, and perhaps a little jealous.

There were two letters for Serena on Monday morning, and she almost snatched them out of Captain Vance's hand when he brought them to her room. She had been -certain of one from Jim, but the second,?... It came from Phil—it was an answer to her ■ovrn. She knew the great, sprawling writing; the quick, hysterical turn to the last word in each line. She. broke the seal with nervous fingers, and read :

"Serena, true friend. I am lenving England on Wednesday for America, where I can readily find work suited to my peculiar kind of energy and temperament. I am not horrified at the idea of any association with Monsieur Cuveilla, but the man's magnetism and sneky charm of manner almost overpowered my better judgement. He professed to earn large sums of money, and promised me a third of his emoluments. He was so kind, so helpful, so sympathetic, that, I told him the mistake of my life, even to the names of my husband and Lady Laura. His passionate indignation stirred me into fierce bewilderment. My husband's spies had traced me to the office where I was employed, and you know how .they have dogged my footsteps. I was mad with rage, and the Frenchman played upon my feelings. He was so considerate—so kind, and promised mo so glorious «, future. I now thoroughly realise my indiscretion, and recoil, with an indescribable terror, from the very thought oftwhat I might have done It is over.

"I met a young American woman last, month. She was here in tho interests of the New York daily, and we struck up a friendship. She urged me to "go to America. Women journalists who feared nothing under heaven, and could write crisply and graphically, were always in demand. She gave mo her card, and I am going, Serena. I will write to you as' soon as I am settled.

"On no account breathe a word of this "to a living soul —not even to Mr Carliug. T anV more afraid of the Frenchman now than I am of Captun Mr.yhew T have seen the dc/."i in his eyes, and he always carried a revolver. I know that I should have been of great use to him, as there are few women with tho nerve to n'slc lives thousands of feet above the earth. And 1 don't think that he was really earning money in the ordinary way of flying, because he borrowed several sums from mo, and T paid his railway fare from Manchester. (To be Continued.)