Picture Show (May-Oct 1919)

The Picture Show, AuguH Ibth, 1919, The Girl Who Dared from page 0. A fortnight had gone by and Janice was, she declared, quite well again : but the doctor had ordered her to remain quiet for another week. She had been for little walks about the garden . and for a short motor drive, bu' aa yet nothing more strenuous or exciting was permitted. It had been necess.ary for her to make a confidante of Aunt Susan, and to lier great Furpriso Ihe old lady had heartily backed up Diicre Lawton's desire to keep the deception a secret, even from Roy. " But," said Miss Sugden. as Janice and she chatted intermittently that long and lazy afternoon. " was it necessary for you to break your engagement to marry Koy? " " You forget that it is my sister's engagement," Janice reminded her. Aunt Susan shifted her position with a little oir of arMioyance. " I doii"t like your sister," she said bluntly. Janice flushed. " That's because you don't know her,'" she replied. " She isn't the girl for Roy, for all she's so beautiful," Aunt Susan went on. "And you are." " You shouldn't say such things," Janice cried, her flush deepening. Aunt Susan folded her knitting carefully and stowed it away in a flowered silk bag. " Mark my word, Janice — it can only come right through you. Your sister isn't the girl that my lad's in love with — it's you." She went out to see about tea, and Janice lay back against the ci^shions thinking it over. Breaking Marigold's engagement had been a daring and not at all an easy thing to do, but she had accomplished it. To her great surprise. Marigold had not objected, but sent a message by Lawton heartily approving the plan. Roy, however, had been very troublesome. He would not accept the verdict as final, he said ; and, indeed, Janice had not asked him to do so. She must leave a loophole for Marigold. So Roy liad played the humble, devoted and patient lover, showering gifts and attentions on tho little invalid, and refusing, absolutely, to give up hope. Scarcely had Aunt Susan gone into the kitchen to see that his favourite scones were being made properly, when ho appeared, having returned from a business trip to London. Janice's heart contracted with pain, and after giving him a cheerful greeting, she turned away her eyes. The very sight of him caused her such suffering that she could scarcely bear it, yet ho was a well-favoured young man, and her action stung him into momentary bitterness of speech. " Hang it all, you behave as though I was a leper ! " he exclaimed. " Am I so repulsive, or what is it ? " " How beastly I am ! " Janice exclaimed softly. " Yes, you are— rather." Roy agreed. Here he was with his arms full of flowers and a box of chocolates, to say nothing of early Btrawberries and a pot of Devonshire cream, and she turned away as though the sight of him offended her, " I wish you wouldn't spend so much money on me," Janice said, changing the subject. " It isn't right." He sat down, tired and a little discouraged for the first time, and flung his parcels on a table. " It's my money, and if you don't care for presents, give thorn to Aunt Susan — or to the poor. I don't mind." " Oh, Roy ! 1 don't msan to hurt you. You are so kind — so wonderful " " And so darned miserable," ho concluded, with a wry smile. " You mustn't think I'm hurt because you can't make up your mind to marry me. I don't blame you for that. I'm not good enough for any girl — let alone a girl like you. Marigold " " Oh, ])Iease don't call me Marigold ! " she cried twisting her hands distressfully. " Sorry, ' I'lain .Jane,' I'm always forgetting. But why must you turn away from me ' It was your own suggestion that wc could be good pals, even if you — you decided in the long run that it could never be anything more than that." Why did she turn away ? " Darling, 1 don t believe yov; don't care ! On your word of honour, little ' Jane ' — am I so utterly abhorrent to you t " " Of course you aren't," she whispered faintly. His nearness was too much for her. It took every ounce of strength she possessed to withstand him. What a temptation it was, to lay her head on his shoulder and cry out that he was all the world and more to her ! " Then — on your word of honoiu', is it true you don't love me ? " " You have no right to put it in that way, Roy ! " " Yes, I liave. I have the right that love gives. Do you think it cfuite fair to play about with a chap Uke this ? Haven't you any heart or conscience, darling ? " " Heaven knows I have a heart ! " she cried bitterly. " And you are torturing it." " My dear, it's you who are torturing both of us. But you haven't answered my question. On your word of honour, dear ? " " I ci^n't answer it ; I won't ! " Janice said in desperation. ' He simply could make nothing of her and, in a way, shared her sense of relief when Aunt Susan came back followed by a maid with tho tea-things. The Sisters Meet Again. NO, Roy, I don't want you to come with me. Please don't argue the matter." " Very well." The young man s lips came together firmly, almost with the suggestion of a snap. " The car is here," called Awnt Susan. " Have you enough wraps, my child ? " " Oh, yes," Janice replied nervously. " There are rugs in the car. Is Mr. Lawton there ? " Mr. Lawton was there, to Roy Sugden's illconcealed annoyance. He was going to drive with Janice back to Brighton, and, although there was plenty of room in the car — which was Marigold's — Roy had been told that his company was not wanted. Xo wonder he felt resentful. " I'll ring you up on the telephone this evening," Janice said, as she gave him her hand in farewell. " And thank you so much for all you've done for me — all your kindness " " Plea.se don't ! ' inteiTupted Roy cri.sply. " There's no need to make me feel any more unhappy than I do." Miss Sugden, with the knowing wisdom of an old owl, tucked in the rug about her ex-patient s knees. Her eyes twinkled solemnly. Slio felt that she knnw what was going to. happen in the fullness of time ; and if it didn't of its own accord, she meant to constitute herself the goddess in the machine and play at being Fate. With Janice out of the house and Marigold in a position to return to Hurstfield next week for the filming of some of the less arduous scenes, Susan Sugden felt that the curtain had fallen on Act 1 of a most delightfvxl comedy. When Roy next met the real Marigold he could not fail — in Aunt Susan's opinion — to realise that something was fundamentally wrong, and Aunt Susan was impatient of the interval. She wanted the curtain to go up on Act 2 at once. " Good-bye ! Good-bye ! " " Back on Monday ! " called Dacre Lawton. " I'll ring you up to-night," Janice repeated. Aunt Susan waved her handkerchief while Roy stood hat in hand at tlie cottage gate, his heart sad with loneliness and bitter jealousy. Could it be possible that his girl — the dear, little girl whom he must always think of as hi.s — ■ really cared for Lawton ? If so, it was only chivalrous to let her go. Love wasn't a thing ho could forqe. During the drive down to Brighton, Dacre Lawton talked a great deal about Marigpld, whom ho liad been seeing nearly every day. He said a change had conio over her, and ho called it a change for the better. " She'.s been finding out things about life," he said. " So have 1," .Janice replied thoughtfully. A pas.sion of love for her sister and deep remorse swept her. " I think she's really very fond of you," Lawton went on. "Your accident frightened her sadly. You see, poor child, wo all spoiled Marigold. She had to lift but her little finger to get what she wanted. That's one of tho penalties of fame, being spoiled. And now she sees what your life has been, and how bravely for her sake — that she might become more and more spoiled— you efiaced yourself and looked after your rather troublesome mother." " Mother ? Yes, she has her troublesomo moments," .Janice replied gravely. " But it's always been so dull for her with just me. She wanted us Ui share with Marigold and have a gayer sort of life, see people and all that." " I know ; and Marigold, silly child, was afraid to let you be seen because a rival producer would have snatched you up and advertised you with gusto as Marigold Clare's sister. AVhy, I'd have done it myself, had I known of your existence." Janice could not iinderstand Lawton's air of pensivene.ss. .Vlthough he liad been most kind to her and praised her unsf intingly, instinct told her that he was not in love with her, except in a big-brother or fatherly fashion. " Oh, Jan, darling ! " Marigold flew down to the gate as the big car drew up. Janice leaned forward, conscious of a great throb of surprise. Could that really be Marigold ? Of course it was — yet how odd to see her clad so simply and with an air of spontaneous sympathy tliat hitherto she had, reserved for tho moving picture screen. She ' was wearing a faded pink gingham dress that belonged to Janice, and her curls were bunched together with a big ribbon bow. " Jan, how pale you are I They said you were well. Oh, Dacre, how could you move her, when .she's obviously not fit for it ! " " Xonsense ! " Lawton exclaimed. Nevertheless it was true, that Janice suddenly looked very ill, indeed, and ho picked her up and carried her into the house, although she protested that there was nothing at all the matter with her. Her mother — the little "troublesome" mother who found life dull in this quiet backwater — gathered her favourite daughter into her arms, while Marigold, with unwonted selflessness, flew about making herself generally useful. It was an hour later before the sisters found themselves alone together. " Marigold, I told Mr. Sugden that I — I mean, you — would ring him up on the telephone this evening, " Janice said. IMarigold's sweet face set in pensive lines. " Very well, dear. I want to see him, and — ■ and set evei-ything right between us," she said. " You'll be in your room, and I think I'll ask him to come down at once. The twilights are so long. I'd hke to have my first talk with him in the garden. Xow you must tell me everything, so I won't make mistakes. You see, Jan, I'm going to feel rather shy with Roy after all this." (Another splendid instalment next week.) CHRISSIE WHITE. A TALENTED AND CHARMJNG BRITISH PLAYER :: :: BRITISH screen art is jumping ahead by leaps and bounds, and one of the people who have played an enviable part in this happy state of affairs is winning, blue-eyed Chrissie White. Chrissie, is British through and through, and London was her birthplace. At the age of nine years she appeared in her first Hcpworth picture play. Recently she has come rapidly to the fore, and as Mr. Henry Edwards' leading lady she has won a reputation of which any film actress might be proud. Her work has the realism which is so necessaiy in picture plays, and in a few years she progressed far along the path to fame, until to-day she is recognised as a talented and charming •' j)layor of emotional role.s. She is just as conviiicing'wheth''r portraying a " character " part in a shabby costume, or as an ultra-fashionable lady of society. Some of Chrissie White's recent successes ara as Helen in " Broken Threads," Molly in " The Hanging Judge," Margaret in "Dick Carson Wins Through," and Anne in " Towards the Light." Each of these different types of womanhood is a masterpiece of screen art. Chrissie coiifesses that she enjoyed playing the part of Anne better than any of her other screen creations ; and all picture-goera will agree that it certainly was a very human little study. Chrissie is loved and admired by everybody at the studio for her sweetness and sympathetic nature. She is inten.sely fond of otit-door life, and is jiassionately fond of children, flowers, and horses.