Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 - 1947), Friday 12 January 1934, page 7


WINGS OF -

j CHANCE

By Effi® Adfel&ndl© Rowflsumdls

Sheila Volamine's very carefully doctored eyebrows were lifted in a look of surprise. "Oh, you certainly must be taken in hand, 1 see that. Of course, you belong to a set of DeoDle who think thev have

the right to fling bricks at us because we just' have a happy sense of enjoyment You should have been living in Cromwell's time."David David Martyn hunched his shoulders, and then said: "Well, evidently I am a mixture— just, now you said I was a brigand from Corsica, and now I am one of Cromwell's Roundheads! As o matter of fact, my dear young woman, I am a very ordinary individual. And if you want-me to speak the truth, I don't know why I have come here to-night. I'm dead out of all this sort of thing. It's all so futile." The girl put down her cocktail glass, shook her head as Lord Colston offered her another, and then slipped her hand almost intimately through David Martyn's arm, "You really are interesting," she said. "You so evidently imagine you are in earnest. I wonder why all you people who have big ideas and much supposed big thoughts must forget their manners? You know you are inclined to be rather rude to me, Mr. Martyn." "Well, let's leave it at that," said David in his curt way. If this was the girl in whom Hilda Denison had hoped to interest him, he felt she had made a very great mistake. Miss Vola-mine was just the type of young woman whom he most disliked, insincere and rather flippant, she was holding herself in now, he knew that perfectly well, but in a little while her real self would come to the surface, and then he might, in fact, be very rude to her. He resolved, as they all went down the stairs to dinner, that he would get away as quickly as possible when the meal was over. But he had reckoned without Sheila, and without Lady Hilda They were determined to break down his very disgruntled attitude. The girl found time to whisjjer to Lady Hilda in the bend of the stairs: "He's all you said he was, but he's a darling just the same. Very attractive! I'm going to have real fun with him." "Go right ahead," said Lady Hilda. At the same time she frowned, because, as a matter of fact, though she

was older than David, she did not want any woman, least of all a woman like Sheila Volamine, to come into his intimate life. But she had played her game very carefully. .Later on she was certainly going to make a big effort to get her hands on all that David Martyn possessed. Nevertheless, when she was seated at her table and looked round, her face contracted. She told herself that after all she had been a fool to bring Sheila Volamine and David Martyn together "She's a gold digger!" the older woman said to herself angrily. What really annoyed her was that although they were very much of the same type of person, belonged to the same school of thoughts and action. Miss Volamine was distinctly younger than she was, and youth has a great power. All the annoyance and the doubt that had crowded her mind with regard to Elizabeth Bolton was swept away by this new sense of danger. Then with a shrug of her shoulders she told herself that after all it would be impossible for her to shut this young man away completely from . all other women, and she knew him so well that though she had boosted up Sheila' Volamine she told herself quite complacently that the girl would never really make any mark with David. There were two other women of the party, and when they left the dinner table' and went into the drawing-room, Lady Hilda Denison poused a moment by David. "Don't stay too long," she said. "And look after everyone for me, will you, please, David. You see you stand to me in the light of the' man of the house." He gave her a queer look out of his very handsome eyes, but said nothing, and as the door closed behind the women he stood and talked for a little while to an oldish man, the one guest who was present who interested, a man who had been a great friend of Francis Denison, and had had a very interesting soldier's enrner.

Lord Colston, 'having been well prompted by their hostess, endeavoured to break in on this conversation and to be sure that young Martyn would not give him the slip. But David was too luick for them all. He had got out of the rooms, and out of the flat almost before Lord Colston had realised that he had disanoeared. Lady Hilda had to laugh when the other man came, arid she realised that her "star turn," as she called him. had disappeared. IS"Better "Better luck next time," she said in a low voice to Sheila, who nodded and smiled back, but who was. as a matter of fact, tremendouslv annoyed by the Wiv in which David Martyn had slipped away And though she laughed and talked in her usual flipoant manner, she was making plans all the time with regard to this strange voung man. Money was necessary to Miss Volmaine. She had a little income of her own, but it was not 1 enough for all that she d ired to have in her life. She was getting a little bit afraid of being left on the shelf, although she was still quite young. And when Lady Hilda had talked to her about David Martyn. telling her all that the young man possessed, and his ;ci. r ways, and his attraction. Miss Volamine had made up her mind that this voung man was to -c the happy person who would bestow upon her all the things that she most required and love 1 in life. And this first meeting between them could only be written down as a very bad start He certainly had been rude

to her, there was no disguising that fact and the only pleasure that Miss Volamine got out of die situation was the fact that her hostess was just as much annoyed and piqued as she was, in fact, the schemes and outlook of both these women ran in the same groove. Sheila Volamine, in fact was only astonished that the elder woman had brought her in contact with David Martyn, because she knew that all the money the young man possessed must be a tremendous attraction for Hilda Denison. ' She could only imagine that she was present at this dinner, and David had been brought in contact with her because it seemed to be a kind of satisfaction to Lady Hilda's vanity. She wanted to prove that she controlled the young man. And Miss Volamine did not disguise from herself the fact that she was perfectly convinced that her hostess was in on j sense exceedingly pleased that David had taken his departure, because in this she would regard his attitude as a blow struck at the girl about whqm she had spoken so enthusiastically.

When she got Lord Colston on one side Lady Hilda Denison spoke to him. , "Did he say where he was going, Bobby?" she asked. , , , . The man she addressed shook his head. "No, I didn't even know he had gone, he slipped out of the room so quietly. He was talking to old Clarence Brown--talkinfi quite earnestly. . And I never imagined for a moment that he intended to slip away, but when we all moved to come in here, he was gone. But you can't exactly hang on to a mans coat tails can you?' . And then Lord Colston said a little irrjtably.'t really knQW why you should worrv about him so much, except, of course, because of his money. But you ve got quite enough, surely, Hilda, my dear If you were only to manage properly there is no reason why you should bo running round looking after someone else's money." . "You are quite wrong, said. Lady Hilda, assuming an air of dignity. "After all, you must realise that David is a connection of mine." "Well, is he?" queried Lord Colston. "He never seems to fit in with all the rest of your relatives. How does he happen to be a cousin, as you call him?" Lady Hilda laughed: not very lightly. "Well, cousin," she said, "is a generic term which covers a multitude of relationships you know. As a matter of fact, David's mother was related to my mother —that's what gives us a connection, my dear Bobby."

"Well, that's that," said Lord Colston. "Now what are we going to do? Are we going on somewhere to dance, or make merry? I'll tell you what, Hilda —you made a mistake in bringing Sheila Volamine into this to-night. It was she. I think, who gave your young cousin the fright of his life. 1 saw him looking at her at dinner, and he drew away from her' just as if she had been a poisonous snake. 1 quite agree with him, said the young man, "1 think she is a poisonous snake. Can't see her great attractions, my dear! Of course, good looking, yes . . . beautiful figure and knows how to show it. Ruddy hair and all the rest of it, my dear, but Sheila has been going a bit of a time you know, she's no longer a great attraction. Now I'll tell you what,'' he said, "1 think t_:nt little piece of goods who was at the restaurant the other day with Martyn, she's far more dangerous. My Heavens! what possibilities there are in that little person! So quiet, so modest, such lovely eyes, and so really young." As he moved away, and Lady Hilda had to turn and talk to someone else, she said to herself rather viciously: l

"Bobby is. getting rather out of, hand. I think I shall have to drop him. His allusion to Elizabeth .Bolton rankled in her mind. Am d although , they all went on in a bunch- in various cars to a well known restaurant , where, there was. a cabaret performance ana afterwards dancing, she felt out' of gear the whole evening, and for two pins she would have drifted away from her -party and gone along to that big house where she now knew Martyn was estab-lished. ' She had to content herself, however, with thinking out a scheme for bringing this very difficult and tiresome young man into closer intercourse with herself, because although she had seen him fairly often, and they were by way of - being friends, she really could not honestly say to herself that she was of ahy importance in David Martyn s thoughts and life. CHAPTER XII. . ' For several days after the disturbing events which had comd to trouble her usually monotonous existence, Elizabeth tried ' to overcome the doubt that still filled her mind when she thought of Edward CartreU. She missed David- in the most extraordinary' way. The house was empty without him. Although he had been accustomed every now and then to go away for a few days, still there was' always a feeling that he was coming back, and both Mrs. Pemberley and Alfred openly deplored the fact that the young man was absent. a Elizabeth tried to occupy herself with household duties. She was very straightforward with Mrs. Pemberley. , ":Do let me do something, she said. "I shall go crazy If I don't. I am so accustomed, you see, to glvo a certain time to the office that I feel quite lost without my work. I am going down in that direction to-morrow, because I am going to take Audrey Harris out to have a little luncheon with mo." "Why don't you bring her back here, my dear?" queried Mrs. Pemberley. But Elizabeth shook her head with a smile. "Oh, it's too far for her to come. We will just go into a Lyons' or some- . thing like that, and have a modest meal. But if you will let me, dear . Mrs. Femberley, I Bhould love to have Audrey here one evening. I believe she misses me at the office. Although," Elizabeth added with a little laugh, "It > ought to be a good miss for her, because I really, yfas a great nuisance.' She was always obliged to come and work on my calculations. You see. I'm no earthly at adding up figures." To be Continued.