HANDMAID TO FAME

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 February 1939, Page 10

HANDMAID TO FAME

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

COPYRIGHT.

BY

BERTA RUCK.

(Continued)

“ ‘Love Planet,’ ” put in Terry. Quietly as they were spoken those two words had crushed a happy girl’s gay evening. Lavery, with polite smiling acceptance of the hostess’s compliments, was asking, "Then you saw the film?” “Naturally! Twice! It pleases me more than any film I have even seen!” declared the pretty hostess; and the turned to Terry. “Is the Fraulein also j on the films?” “No,” said Lavery, adding with a smile, “This Fraulein writes plays!" The hostess transferred some of the admiration from the man to the girl. “Imagine that! What genius is required for that! Oh, what an interesting life. Did this young lady write this story of ‘The Love Planet'?” “No. That was all before I knew her —how extraordinary it feels, Terry, that even so short a time ago I did not know you. It was after they made ‘Love Planet' that we met, wasn’t it?” “Yes. I never saw ‘Love Planet.’ I would like to," said Terry suddenly. “Couldn’t we go on to this cinema, after dinner, Vai, and see it’ He hesitated. “BusmaiFs holiday? I don’t think that ‘Love Planet’ was a particularly good performance of mine. Besides—ancient history ” That was exactly the reason Terry wanted to go and see that old film. Ancient history! Screened and passionate love scenes between Vai Lavvery and the exquisite Armitage woman. Souvenirs! Those would rub it in. Not to Vai, he was a man. He must take care of hihiself. Terry had herself to think of. “I can’t let myself feel again as I did when he gave me the souvenir-earrings and told me he couldn’t ever forget the last weeks. It’s insane, caring so much for a man. It’s got, got, got to stop.” Terry, stormed at herself, “I’ve got to make myself realise how utterly hopeless and absurd this is. I’ve got to look at him as he was when he was making love to that beautiful Flower Armitage. (Flower Osgood as she now is). I’ve got to remind myself, vividly, of the kind of beauties to whom he’s accustomed. The one factor that will show me things in their right proportion,” thought the poor child wildly, “will be seeing the ‘Love Planet,’ watching Flower “You want to look in at the cinema? Right, then,” said Vai. He was piqued because he misread her again. If the .girl wanted to sec the infernal sloppy picture where he had to kiss Flower, and clasp Flower passionately to his heart about twenty times to every hundred foot of film, it meant that she, Terry, didn’t pay him. Vai, the compliment of even a hint o! retrospective jealousy. Not even of a thousand stirring and romantic “shots.” Very well. “If you're keen, Terry, we won’t bother about any more national peasant-dances. We'll go straight on to the cinema when you’ve finished your coffee.”

Terry had not been prepared for the stab of pain that went through her, as they entered the vestibule, at the sight of a case ol’ “stills.” Large, highly-finished pictures represented Vai Lavery in Ruritanian uniform, gazing into the eyes of Flower Armitage in her Court Lady s dress. There was a coloured poster, 100, of the pair, locked in an ardent embrace. “Close-up of Romance,” commented Vai as he turned to the box-office. Terry was looking at the poster. Everywhere she looked, Flower and Vai. Flower and Vai. And the frightful part of it was that it was not just film-ro-mance. At the time that those photographs were taken they were the record of authentic and throbbingly real romance between real engaged lovers. “Why was I born,” thought Terrystaring angrily at those stills, “to suffer like this? This is the worst yet. It was not.

Something worse was still due to happen. She heard a clear soprano voice behind her remark in English. “It’s not one of my best performances. Still, if you so much want to see the picture again we might have five shillings-worth-of ”

Terry and Vai whisked round at the same moment; at the same moment their eyes were met by the sight of Miss Flower Armitage—no. of Mrs Elmer K. Osgood herself in the flesh. Terry gasped, was it a nightmare? No. Face it. Here, at the entrance to this provincial city cinema, in this idyllic country to which Terry had brought Vai as an escape from all this, here was the disastrous Lovely. Close beside her was her multi-millionaire American husband: all opulent, massive and handsome in a big travelling coat.

“Why, honey." he pointed out to his bride, “aren’t these friends of yours?" Flower’s lovely painted eyes had flown from tier ex-fiance to the girl who was with him.

“What an amizing surprise. When did you come over. Vai? We’re on our honeymoon, of course. Just come over the Brenner Pass. What are you doing here?” CHAPTER XI. Five minutes later, with all explanations hastily got over about who was where and why, four people were shown to the cinema seats —Valentine Lavery and Terry Grey, and Mr and Mrs Osgood. Occupying four balcony stalls in a row, they watched scene after passionate love-scene between the well-known co-stars Valentine Lavery and Flower Armitage starring in "Love Planet,” and three of them at least found it a most uncomfortable show. Mr Osgood. Flower’s multi-million-aire American bridegroom, who had of course insisted upon paying for the seats, sat at the end of the row and

suffered; badly. To him it was an everrankling regret that his exquisite bride had been in love with Lavery, her handsome co-star. In the delights of honeymooning with Flower, Osgood had begun to forget that the other man had ever been anything but the actor opposite to whom she had played. Poor Terry was suffering as acutely as the American, fo’r next to her she heard Vai being all brotherly and gay to his ex-fiancee. Terry thought, “Isn’t Vai brave? All this superb acting. She’s just come back to haunt him. He needn’t pretend! She is 'the rose out of reach' now, and he will go and be more crazy about her than ever.” If she had only know what Vai had been really feeling! Even while he congratulated Osgood, wished Flower all happiness, and settled himself next to her, with just the right mixture of brotherliness and admiration, Vai was asking himself, “How on earth did I manage to go off the deep-end and and keep off it for this spoilt, artificial puss?” At this point: “Love me?” cooed the voice of the screened Flower, winding white arms about the neck of her lover. The voice of the screened Vai replied ardently, “Aaore you!” The caption flashed up in German. The audience gave a long drawn-out, sympathetic “Ach ” Terry, stabbed turned to Mr Osgood, said the first thing that came into her head and then knew that she had dropped a brick. “Wouldn't it be amusing if real scenes out of people’s past lives could be flashed before us as clearly as scenes that are played in a film?” “I’ll say it would be amusing!” retorted the Star’s husband with a concentrated grimness . But immediately he added, lightly, “The time that happens, you see, is when a fellow’s drowning.” “Oh—oh yes,” said Terry, and thought “When, when is this hateful picture going to stop?” At last it came to the final, lingering and long-drawn-out kiss of the closeup; slowly the red curtains flowed to,gether upon that decorative group, and the audience streamed out into the street again. But it was not to be the end of this ordeal by old-flame for any of the four people. “Elmer,” Flower murmured, “you’ll send these two people home in the ear, won’t you?” “Why, sure, honey,” said Elmer K. Osgood. For him no car would have been high-powered and swift enough to get Lavery, her old love, off his darling’s horizon and out of their lives for evermore. "I’ll order it right now.’ “Yes; after we've given them a drink. Vai! Miss Grey! You’ll come back to our hotel for a minute first, won't you?” Terry thought, “She can’t let Vai go. Oh, these Dog-in-the manger women! She doesn't want Vai. She doesn’t I care two hoots for anyone but her Own Beautiful Self. Or—Does she? Is this my imagination, or is there a different look in her eyes when she speaks to Mr Osgood? Can she actually be getting keen on her Own Husband?” It seemed a wild surmise. As a mat-ter-of-fact it was not so far from the truth. The telephone message came through from the reception-desk that two American gentlemen had just come in inquiring for Mr Elmer K. Osgood. It was followed by the breezy eruption of the two American college-friends of Osgood, massively handsome as he, as cordial, they wore mountain-boots and climbing-clothes. There followed an orgy of back-slapping cries of “Hullo, Elmer old horse!" and “Hullo, Cy!” There were introductions all round. To Terry it was through the continuation of a nightmare that she heard Osgood saying, “No. Dwight, no!” He put down his glass and looked determined. “It sounds a swell scheme, but my baby isn’t so hot on that sport.” “What’s that, Elmer?” Flower whisked round from talking of her next picture, to Vai. “I'm just telling Dwight you don’t care for climbing. He was planning for us to join him and Cy, Tuesday, making an ascent of the " “Well, but my dear old thing, you go!” the bride urged him. “Surely you don’t think you can’t take 24 hours off because it’s the honeymoon? I know how crazy you are about climbing, Elmer. Arrange with your friends. Give me a rest from your presence!” “Honey. I can't leave you alone " “Need I be alone?” retorted Flower. "Why shouldn’t we ask Miss Grey and Lavery to come right along to this hotel, putting up here with me,, and I keeping mo company while you go off I with your friend on this Excelsior act? I Then we should all be happy! Don’t, you think that would be the best plan?” I “Why. sure." agreed her Elmer, ! heartily. All the more heartily because. poor, infatuated newly-wed, he was stabbed by the suggestion. But was he going to show a sign? No; little guessing in his simplicity how Flower longed for him to put his foot down and say, "Nonsense! I’m not going to leave you." He went on “I'll reserve rooms at once. Miss Grey! Lavery! I hope you two will do us the honour of being our guests not only while I’m climbing, but just as long as ever you can manage it?” (To be Continued.)