The Romance of a Business Girl.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10713, 22 November 1912, Page 2

The Romance of a Business Girl.

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PKRPLKXITIKM. li, ;V? iii;;U l;i on Friday when Jim •ti.'.i!. j-J his last, letter to Ser-"i:i. i .'ii'rt'iij he t-->'d her to expect ki:i: ;ti Loiid.'U c.:i tn? io!l<>wing Al.onday. A Imvh-.li .':>.!•( .1 to had been formed to oxoicit: htv invention, and pnrtie.;i!:>rly the nut and boil machine-). which had successfully run the gauntlet of would-bo rivals and fati IL-findi export-;. Tho baser organ.* of tin l prch-s

liad tried to blackmail him, Five hut:.drcd pounds for a certain kind <>i leading editorial, or they would smash his enveutiou to -smitheroeiiij! iles was not said in plain English, but their meaning never left him in doubt. Nothing that the scribes could say would alter facte. Tho machines did ntore than ho claimed for then). Let tho doubters visit Birmingham, and ?K3o them at ■work.

The blackmailers of the pre.ss said ungrudgingly that the invention marked a now era in tho progress of the industrial world, but these machines of Carling'*, they ventured to predict, would be out of date in a yea* or two. There lay tho sting. Only a few ol' the bolder 'spirit:-) dared to buy tho rights 1/3 use the patent,so Jim was arranging with syndicates to use his invention under a system of royalties. Upon thifi business he was engaged in Paris ; but the I 1 rench, like all the Latin races, are past masters in the art of polite equivocation. Hence the delay, and delay to a .nmm in love, who has his* wedding arrangements in the making, is oxqni.'i 11 ; tcrture, double refined.

Hn he mailed the letter to Serena on I'Viday at noon, after a. meeting with his French syndicate.- There wore a few more documents to bo signed, and it was with a. feeling of strong irritation th-at he prepared to lounge away the afternoon on the hotel pi ax,/-a, because there was no earthly reason why everything should not have been completed that- morning. Afc uny rate, the business prospects -were excellent, and he had that knowledge to comfort him. Hp lunched, and then lighting a cigar of his favorite brand, be strolled onto the piazza. The sun was warm and penetrating, and for a while ho lazily watched the people promenading the boulevard. This exaggerated politeness of one person to another was quite a now thing to him. The back-breaking bows', the wide and prolonged sweep of the raised hat, the pasturing, the kissing of hands, j

"Alanv of them h-ato each other," he reflected. "After all, give mo tho straight? deal. The Anglo-Saxons arc called pigs, hogs, brutes, and other fancy name?.', but you generally know how far to trust- thorn. They don't often stick a knife between one'a ribs, or boro holes into 0110 with revolver r Then his thoughts took a pleasantor turn. Ho pictured Serena and the future, tho houso on the Surrey Hills, and tho world was? like a garden of love.

Tho warmth induced drowsiness, and <ho dreamed an ugly dream. Serena and liis people, Lady Laura and Captain Mayhew, were all jumbled together, and, absurd though it seemed, ho couldn't get rid of the impression that there was something wrong in England. Ho remembered poohpoohing Serena \s talk about a son so of impending evil. He vowed that superstition was all rot, and yet he always bared his head to the new moon, and never walked under tlu ladder!

"I am going home to-morrow," Ik: decided stxibbornly, "and I'll rout: out these Frenchios and make 'em complete to-dayor tho deal's off. I'll come back, and open up the business on my own hook 1 if 1 have any moro shilly-shallying." When Jim said a thing ho did it. Tho old saws did not worry him a bit, becouse they contradict ono another. Ho shook up tho men representing the syndicate, and tlio next day started for London with all the needful papers in his pocket. By midday on Sunday ho was at the Cecil, and planning a surprise for Serona. He knew exactly what her movements usually were on a Sunday. Church in the morning—reading in the afternoon —and church again in tho evening. If he got to Dulwieh between two and three o'clock ho would find her free, and dreaming of him! This was one of hi 3 pleasant fancies, and excusable in a lover so young and ardent. Soon after two o'clock ho arrived at Forndale, and tiptoed across the bit of front garden to peep in at the window of Serena's sitting room. She was not there, so his calculations were slightly wrong. He rang tho doorbell, and. before

BY F, l. DACRS Author of "A Fleet cf O reams, ' "Silar DennrngtCkL b Money," "The Shade w of Shame," "A Phantom of tie Jfast," H oi<i m teu-

(To bo Continued.)

hi„s ring was uiifwemi by Captain Vance 'ho wan pertain that fckTeim, was r«:t in tiie house. Then tho old l'orebor.iing ;ushed up/Hi hiin with a force that, wii.i bewildering. "Cuiuo in, sir—come in," Captain Vance invited cheerily. '•\Vhero ia Miss Fleming?" asked Jim, in tho halJ. ! '"Out." I "Where? Mow long has she boon gone ?" i "Since about ten o'clock. Was she expecting you, sir?" "Oh, no!" Jim triod to laugh. "I am not due here for twenty-four hours, but hero I a.m. Da.sh it, why . didn't I telegraph from Paris?"

1 "Yea, why didn't you ? Miss Fleming won't be back until ton o'clock—- ; at least ( that was her arrangoment. I She's been constantly on tho .move all

the week,, and has fidgeted mo half silly. Hor bedroom is over my sitting room, and the bulling about has been ince&sant . I am not grumbling, Mr Carling, only it is so unusual." "She won't trouble you much longer," smiled Jim. "Trouble! Sho's the sunshine of the place. Sit down and have a smoke with me if you have nothing else to do."

"Thank you, but I'll follow up Miss Fleming; I can't rest quiet until ten —nearly eight hours! She is probably spending Sunday with her uncle and cousins at Hampstead." Captain Vance shook his head. "No, I heard the chauffeur say something about Richmond. A lady called to see Miss Fleming—Thursday, I think it was—came in: -a smart motor landaulette —servants in livery, et cetera. The same-motor fetched the young lady away this morning, and she told mo she wouldn't bo back until ten o'clock to-night-.". Jim was completely mystified. "A tall, slender lady—youngish?" he said, thinking of Lady Laura. "A tall stout woman —very much, overdressed/' corected Vance. Jim made an impatient movement.

"Why, in the name of goodness "ho began, then broke off. "Of course, Miss Fleming did not expect rno until to-morrow, and dho is amusing herself in her own way. If I don't run her to earth. Captain Vance I shall bo back hero to meet her tonight." After a minute'-* thought ho shook hands with Vance, muttered sometiling a'>ont being "off," ami off he went.

J>. was a longish walk to a tax ion b stand, hut his sa,vago stride soon covered the ground to Peck-ham Wye Station, where there were cabs in plenty.

He went to Kensington firyt, but Lady Laura could tell him very little of an easeful nature. Serena was at her house for a short time on Friday. She knew nothing about SWena, having friends at Richmond, So Jim flowto Mayliew's flat. Luckily Mayhew was :it homo.