1935-12-17 — Page 46

32

R

OSEMARY

regarded

me

-with a little twinkle in her

cool grey eye. She was dress-

ני

ed sparingly in some cool dia- phanous grey material which threw into relief the jet back profusion of curls drawn back Greck fashion from her white brow. She was sun-browned and healthily slim; even dispos- ed to be friendly whilst sur- rounded by the fashionably dressed crowd which had as- sembled on the smooth lawns at Ranelagh to watch the poln. It was a gorgeous spring day si the time of the big dopé-smuggl- ing scandals, and had it not been for Rosemary's summons I should have been far out of the heat of London and rusti- cating at my Sussex home.

It must bere be admitted that

I still had faint hopes of corner- ing Rosemary and her affections. In private she still remained that ice-cool aloof person whose sharp, wit scattered my bouts of sentimentality, and at times of extreme feeling drove me to #1- ter desperation. However, in public, she would always play the game with any escort, and. for the present, I held that hon- oured position.

•

"You will never see Jasmine again." she murmured ecstati cally.-tapping her tiny daintily shod foot against the basket- work table.

“You were never very great friends you two." I returned innocently enough.

"I hated her," she stated, and surprised me. But still she smiled. "I hated her at school and at college, and I hated her most of all when John and. I found you both in that arbor at Mountsfeld”

I felt my neck going red and thanked the smiling sun for his

excuse.

“The circumstances were un- usual," I parried carefully. "I was a glorious night.. the But she cut me

short

"You never heard the story? She was eager in her manner, but the gentle voice showed no hardness.

"I know that she married the Dutchman. Franzmann, for no apparent reason other than that he was so absurdly rich. That beautiful place ia Kent they had.

end

"It was there that the came," she cut in languidly, and lay back arranging her sleeves against the burning sun.

"She was always so proud, you know." Could never stand the breath of scandal Even when she, chose to frivol she took great pains to do it in private. So unmodern in that respect.*

arrived by invitation to find the shutters up and the place deserted," I began, “and some workmen were erecting a board to announce that the place was for sale. You were there yourself before they went

"Yes

She seemed less eager now, and there came a thoughtful look into her soft eyes,

“Tell me,” I ventured. “You were still a little in love. with her then, mon ami, were you not?" she said. It was ob

:

+

CHINA MAIL CHRISTMAS SUPPLEMENT

CATS CABBAGES

vious that she meant to witness the full measure of my discom- fort

"She was married

"Yes. With a husband who came and went by private zero- plane, and stayed away from her for weeks at a time.”

"She was lonely."

"With always a house full of servants and guests,” she re- turned I had a surprising glimpse of veiled cynicism. She -almost-seemed moved to--somne. half-hidden deep riding emotion.

"Tell me," I reiterated.

"She swanked.” said Rose- mary, adjusting her sunshade carefully. The flowers in the drawing-room and lounge and on the dining-room table were simply gorgeons. Somebody, ́ I think it was Sheila Bunderry, asked about them at dinner one night, and Jasmine seemed ner- vous Hans, she faid, brought them over from Holland in the *plane. Dutch flowers, espe- cially the spring bulbs, were so much finer and fresher looking than the insignificant English rarieties. She told us they got most of their vegetables that way, too, especially cauliflowers and cabbages. Halkiers of Rotterdam grew them, and their ́ flavour was magnificent. George Lennon, the Assistant Commis- sioner, who was there with his wife and sister, looked a bit glum at that, I can tell you. These were just the kind of cas- ual people they were up agzinat and made the Customs workc za-

difficult, you see, and he had "eaten his host's bait"

"I never suspected,” went an Rosemary, as I adjusted her chair so that she could better manipulate the ten things, “un- til in that wonderful garden of

JSN WORDSWORTH-

- theirs two days later I met Mangel, their gardener, toiling along with a wheelbarrow pil- ed with beautiful English cab- bages. I stopped him, of course, and learnt with pardonable pride on his behalf, that they were of his own rearing, and that, whilst some were for house-

hold use, the remainder were to be sent down to the village for distribution amongst the cot. tagers.

"It was the following mom- „ing," she went on, "one of those bright, clear mornings when it seems a sin to wait for the ear- ly-morning tea to come up, when cabbages, those great big ones that are used for pickling, again obtruded themselves upon my vision. Sir George and Lady Moira bad asked me to join. them in an early-morning ride, and the household - dustbins Ax were in the stable yard. we mounted, a Ford lorry, came into the yard through the back gate, and a dapper little m0XD~=" far too dapper and neatly dress- ed to be a genuine dustman — jumped out of the cabin and started to load the bins into the back of his machine. He loaded seven quite successfully. but the lid of the eighth fell off, to reveal it stuffed fall of beautiful red cabbages. I told" Sir George I should like one. Of course he thought I was quite mad, but decided to humour me, so kicked his foot free of the stirrup and dismounted- He tarned round as if to argue from the ground, but I submitted that if they were going to wasta these vegetables, there was na reason why I shouldn't have ona to take home. So away he went over to the little dapper dust man, who by this time had nished his loading and was £25- tening up the board at the back

of his lorry. He swung round sharply, just like a rat tummiar to face a terrier, as Sir George approached, but said not a word until my friend made his objec- tive plain.

There ensued the most heated argument, which looked like de- veloping into a fight, and every minates my suspicions grew and grew, until, when I saw the lit- tle man's right arm fly back to his hip pocket. I knew that I had been on the right track from the first. Luckily George saw what the fellow was doing, and simply knocked him cold. Just then Jasmine came out of the fruit garden with a fresh-pick-.. ed basket of raspberries, and I saw her go white with fear. She tried to make some surprise come into her voice when she asked what George was doing. bat even a woman. could see through it Immediately after- wards she said something about 200k having the fruit in time for breakfast and disappeared into the house. Sir George, by the time she had gone, had locked the alleged dustıman in the coal- house, and was turning away to get me my cabbage when beard the most frightful roar. Hans had returned the evening *before, and the 'plane was in the feld adjoining the paddock. temporarily housed in a lean-to. The roar increased, and before ary of us could move we saw the 'plane rising over a spinney at the end of the drive"

we

Rosemary pansed and sipped her tea thoughtfully.`

“What did you find.” I asked. “in the cabbages?”

"Packets and packets of heroin packed into the hearts at them," she said, and smiled again that enigmatical smile.

We fell silent for a while. I felt more confident in my con- quest of Rosemary. There had been a personal touch in her conduct at the Kentish mansion. Perhaps after all I was being played like the poor fish who' pits his puny strength against the strong wrist of the expert angler. There was a dance that night in the grounds of the club. and I seized my chance in- the dim-lit gardens - between ⠀⠀ for- trots. Perhaps with the intui- tion which is every woman's birthright she had sensed "the" danger to my reputation to be mixed up in the affair. I I. had gone down to Jasmine at her earlier invitation some of the people in the regiment might well have looked askance at my friendship with proven drug smugglers. She had kept me clear of that suspicion, and gratitude welled in my heart.

"Rosemary," I said, "feeding for her cool hand in the shadow of a great lime tree, "won't you please?" But she broke out into that twinkling provo- cative laugh of hers. “Oh, Jíin- pat,” she said, “you are so 4 fanny. Come on, let's go and dance,” and she skipped towards the brilliantly-lit ball- room like some naughty viva- cious elin.

I am still pursuing Roseme

Printed and published by The

Newspaper Enterprise, Ltd. Hồng Kông.