Scandal at Barons Court

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19902, 3 June 1936, Page 4

Scandal at Barons Court

CHAPTER 1. ‘Howard Lane swung along the narrow path leading through the woods near Barons Court, feeling thoroughly at peace with the world. His lean, handsome race was smiling, and his grey eyes danced with inward pleasure. The first frosts of Autumn had given the trees their first shade of golden brown, but the sun was shining warmly through the foliage, and the day was perfect. Things or the wood-s rustled near the man as he walked, and twice he saw a rabbit scuttling into the undergrowth. He chuckled aloud. for the day fitted in wonderfully with his happiness. It seemed that nothing could go wrong. Even then, as he walked, the shadow of tragedy was slowly closing about him, but he knew nothing of it. He could think. as young men the world over could think, of nothing but his coming marriage. It seemed incredible that Evelyn Foulkes was really going to marry him. She had always seemed too far away from him. lovely and unattainable, until he had screwed up his courage, a few months before, and proposed to her. Then he had discovered she was as much in love with him as he with her. Everything had gone smoothly. Sir‘ Bertram Foulkes, that rather grim old‘ country gentleman, Evelyn's uncle and guardian, had been surprisingly gracious, and had helped in every waY; possible. A wing of Barons Courti was being refurnished for the young‘ couple and Sir Bertram was sparing no expense. Howard‘s father, Colonel Everard Lane, was almost as pleasedl as his son, 'while Evelyn‘s aunt, Agatha Foulkes, was helping Evelyn practi—‘cally as well as with her advice. The world was perfect. . . .

Howard Lane took a short; cut across the woods, leaving the path and, after five minutes of heavy going, reaching the banks of the River Lea as it wound tts silvery way through the grounds. into Glouoe-stershire and thence towards the sea. ‘The river—side walk was one of the most beauti—ful in the county. At, any time Howard would have lingered ‘hy the river, watching the darling shapes of the fishes beneath the surface, seeing the pebbles and stone clearly through the sparkling water. or looking southwards, where the overhanging \\'illow-s drooped towards the river making a wonderful colouring of green, yellow and shadows. ~ I

Knowing nothing of the part, that stretch of the river would soon play in the grim tragedy of Barons Court, Howard Lane branched off again, to—wnrds the house itself. Viewed from the woods, It, was a magnificent build—!n3. for the trees and the distance softened the somewhat, grim outlines 01' the Victorian house.

Barons Court was a large mansion. and had been in the Foulkes‘ family for generations. Sir Bertram. one of the wealthiest men in ihe country. spent tremendous sums on keeping the grounds in perfect condition. Sweep—ing lawns led from the French win—dows, bordered by flower beds aflame with all the glory of early Autumn. It was evening as ‘Howard Lane walked towards it, but three gardeners were busy on the lawns. Something hoved from inside the house as Howard came in sight. A great Dane, black and sleek from head to tail. came bounding towards him. It reared up as Howard held out his hands. and he had to brace himself to keep his balance. “King. you old scoundreli“ Howard laughed. “Goodness knows what would happen {I you took a dislike to me suddenly. But you ought to know better. young man. I don‘t want you. l want your mistress." King seemed to understand. He loped off towards the house. barking once or twice, and then stopped still as Evelyn appeared. outlined against the French windows. Every time Howard saw her he wondered afresh. Now, as the soft light of the evening sun was shining on her, with its golden beauty, she looked lovelier than ever. ‘ Dark hair, naturally wavy. made a halo round her smooth face. ‘ller skin was flawless, her grey eyes wide—set and deep, her lips and nose small but full and well—shaped. A student of human nature would have seen the firmness of her square chin. and would have said, rightly, that. Evelyn Foulkes would be firm and steadfast in her love, always. Howard Lane needed no telling of} that. i He hurried towards her, smiling, and took both her hands in his. She was laughing. too.

“You‘re early, Howard." “Not half early enough," said Howard. quickly. “I haven't seen you for eight, hours, and it‘s nearly been the death of me."

Evelyn laughed. Together they turned towards the house. Bornm they had reached it they had the first warning of the tragedy that was coming to Barons Court. a]— thoush even then may did not dream of It.

Loud and clear through the evening 2111‘ came the sound of a siren. It wailed ahnut them. seeming to shiver through the ah: Evelyn‘s hands tightened on Howard's mm. “011, I hate that sound!“ she said.

Howard nuddcd, “limlersinndingly. “Luckily it, doesn‘t onl-n mum.“ he snld, “and if the wlnd wasn't. mming from the south, \\‘P‘ll llm‘dly heal- il. doesn‘t sonm pnssihlt‘ llie place is five miles away, dovs ii?" Evelyn shook her imml‘ They hur—r‘led into ilm drawing—room, and i‘lnscd the windows. shutting out as much of [no sound as they could. But, still its piercing \Vall I‘CRCIH‘d iholt‘ oars. Neilher of illcm ‘tnlkod of it, how—nor. Tlir‘y know only lno well What it nmant. l-‘lve mllea 10 (he snulh tho, grim. strum building of firm-moor Hospital ln'oko irlm 'lwauly of Hm rulin—-ii-ysldo. 11. was an asylum. nr‘iuall)‘. and liyvlyn l’uulkos \\‘us always upsvi \\'lu‘n slu‘ lll‘ill'll tho siren. fm>lm know it. mmml nnc ul‘ 1110 [mill-Ms fi'mn (li‘nymnm' hull I'srapml‘ ’l‘\\im) lli llu‘ wisl I\\‘o ymu‘s :n'mod nllnnrlanls llml i'nllml :ili llan‘uus (lulll'l, sr‘m‘rliin}: l‘nl' an i-m'upml lmmivldzil maniac. mini \\ul'nin: ilu‘ l-‘nulkvs l 0 lw l'fll‘l‘fll]. lluwiu'il saw illnl lin‘lyn \\'us \\’m'— l'll'll, “l‘ squeezed lu'l‘ :u‘iu 11.4 lir‘ mill: "l“nmvt 11. rlax‘liim. l PXIIN" Hwy \\ill llml Hm Imm" i'vllnw I‘I‘PHX 500“. lwl'm'o lln‘) lll‘Od vulnu livro." “l llnllt‘ :40," said Ewll‘u. Fur nun-P. llnwuiul \\ns glml \\lion Hwy \\niu' juinml l>_\' nllim' llll‘llthl'S of the little liuuso-pzu'ly gzillivi'ml ii)— wllm‘ .‘ll lLli'ullS (luuri iliul work, .\.‘l'm IHV lll‘ lilxwl in lmw‘ .111 Mm limr‘ ImMilnlv \\iHl l-I\'ol.\n alnut‘. hill just, mm‘ l'nui' ui' iln‘lu lugvlhwi‘ \\nulll lll‘lll lu-r in l"-":.-‘ lliv mmnim: nt‘ llml <irun_ \ \wr} [yin-ll) \\um‘in. \i\.u'ilm~ :iwl larger-mud, hurried 11'qu flu pal.) yr

by ALAN GREY.

wards them, followed more sedately by a tall, hard-eyed man whose lclothes proclaimed the fact that he ,was an American. ‘ Howard hardly knew whether to like Conway Sewell or not. He admired the mun immensely. Sewell was one of the most courageous men living. [Time and time again he had laughed lat. death; constantly he was pitting himself against disaster. driving a 'supereharged Hidal-go racing car that thud a speed of three hundred miles an Ihour. He was acknowledged to be America's foremost speed—ace, and he thud failed only by a few seconds to ,hcat the world's speed record on land, 'ai Salt Lake City. He was in England arranging for alterations to his car—officially. Actually, Howard fancied, he had really come to be with Jenny. Lea. Jenny Lea had recently returned Ifrom a stage tour of America, and she ,had added to her already established {leading musical comedy actress in .England, and even in private life she was a little inclined to act. Her ges—tures, her vivectty, her intonation, all suggested she was playing a part—that of striking everyone whom she met with her attractiveness. 4 She was attractive, of. course, but ’Howard preferred the dark, serene beauty of Evelyn to he blonde prettiincss of Jenny Lea. All the same, he {admitted Jenny was a good sort; she iwas game for anything, and when one .manmged to get past the veneer of viv—acity, she was serious and good-1 hearted. Conway Sewell was handsome, in a. hlonde, rugged way. His voice had little of the nasal twang that charac—terised so many of his compatriots. lie was obviously in love with Jenny. land Howard Lane knew they wouldl lhave married but for the fact that Jenny Lee was tied. I [ Howard's father, who was also due [at the house-party, had known Jenny imost of her life, hence Howard‘s iknnuflarhrn n? how mum-v no hnv- his- I

. j knowledge of her history of her his- . 1 tory. She had married, when she was l still in her teens, but for yearns sh< , : had seen nor heard nothing of hei ? | husband, Lester Brice. Brice was i » j suave, polished man, but a rogue; th< > j police had never succeeded in con- . ! victing him of any crime, but the: ; ' were confident that he was capable ol L i anything—and they suspected him o r J blackmail. | Jenny, Howard knew, would gladly | have divorced her husband, but she ' had no grounds. Now Conway Sewell ' had come into her life, the spectre ol I the past -was worse than ever. Beneath that covering of light-hearted j gaiety, Jenny Lea was an unhappy woman. But no one could have dreamed it, if they had seen her that evening for the first time. “ Evel s yn 1” she exclaimed, “I’ve been looking' 1 for you everywhere, j We’ve turned the library into a wonderful course for indoor golf, and we are longing to try it out.” “ I hope you’ve seen Sir Bertram about it,” said Howard, with a laugh. “ He’s fond of the library.” “ He’s a perfect darling,” said Jenny Lea. 11 You ought to be ashamed of yourself, thinking your prospective uncle-in-law capable of refusing me anything.” All four laughed, and Conway Sewell spoke for the first time, as he proffered cigarettes. “ It would be a strong man to do that, Jenny. But you're wasting a j wonderful evening, playing indoor golf. I What’s the matter with a stroll along i the river?” Jenny shuddered, and for a moment she looked haggard. “ I daren’t go out, after that awful siren,” she said. “ I heard the serI vants saying that it was. For good- ! ness sake, Con, get me a really peppy cocktail, and let’s get to the library.” Howard knew that Evelyn would rather be indoors, until news of the maniac’s capture was heard. For the hour before dinner the large, highceilinged library of Barons Court was turned into a miniature battleground. Twice Jenny Lea almost broke a window, and when the gong rang for ' dinner Conway Sewell -said with a | laugh: “ That’s the only thing that could have saved us from a lot of damage, eh, Howard?” “ Brute!” said Jenny, taking Evelyn’s arm. “ Hurry up, darling, or I won't have time to make myself beautiful for dinner, and your wonderful uncle will stop loving me.” She turned her face towards Conway Sewell in a delightful little grimace, and then the two girls hurried off. A servant came in to tidy up the room as Howard Lane and the American went towards their rooms. “Do you think that siren really means anything?” asked Sewell, in his rather husky-voice. “It means something, all right,” said Howard, “ but they usually find their man in a few hours.” He stopped, suddenly, as he saw a tall, soldierly man walking towards him, smiling. “ Why, Dad!” he exclaimed, “ I didn’t expect you until to-morrow.” Colonel Everard Lane smiled »cheerl'ully. “ I didn't think famous explorers ever had to go to town,” said Conway Sewell, smiling as he shook hands with the other man. “ You’d be surprised what they have to do,” smiled Everard Lane. “ But you’d better hurry both of you.” Everard Lane sat on his son’s bed, chatting as Howard washed quickly in Ihe adjoining bathroom. Only on formal occasions did they change for dinner at Barons Court, and the blue lounge suit he was wearing was suitable for that evening. “We’re quite a celebrated crowd, this week,” he called to his father j “Jenny the actress, Conway Sewell ! the motorist, and you. What’s the I business in town? Or aren’t I sup- | posed to know anything about it?” ■ “It’s no secret,” laughed Colonel Lane. ‘Tin thinking of making another African trip, Howard.” j “Not Mil after the wedding,” exI claimed his son. ! "Hood heavens, no!” Colonel Lano , laughed. “But I’ve got |o keep up my j reputation somehow, even when my j right-hand man can’t help me.” Despite -Ids laugh, there was a -suggestion of wislfulness in Colonel j the forthcoming wedding had been so i prominent in the daily press was the fact that the Lanes, father and son, , had made a remarkable trip to the reg- ! ions of the Himalayas a year before, j Everard Lane was probably the most | famous explorer of his day. lie looked . capable of it, too, for he was a tail, I well-built man, with strong, hand - some features and steady grey eyes with that, strange, distant expression ‘in them, as though he was always looking a long way ahead of him. lie

! hacl been to the tropics a dozen times, : leading soientiilo research expeditions, j and some of the discoveries he had ! made had been of immense value to the medical world in dealing with all manner of tropical diseases. In the last trip, when Howard had accompanied him, the newspapers of the world had acclaimed the Lanes’ wonderful success, although both men hated publicity. Little did they know, that evening, that they would be forced lo suffer every conceivable form of publicity in the next few weeks, worse Ilian anything they had experienced before, and made more painful because they were already in the public eye. Howard realised his father would miss him, but they had arranged, already, that Howard would not lake part in foreign expeditions after his marriage. It wouldn’t be fair to Evelyn; moreover Howard would be able to do a great deal of work, while his father was away, in writing up tlie reports that would be sent from Africa whenever possible. As they walked towards the diningroom, their arms linked together, they made a splendid pair. Evelyn met them, unexpectedly, outside the diningroom door. Her face lit up as she saw the colonel. Very happily, they went in to dine. (To be continued.)