The Mystery Queen | Page 5

it's past eight o'clock. Dan, we'll never be in time."
"The musical comedy doesn't begin until nine," Halliday assured her,
and in a few minutes the three of them were comfortably seated in the
luxurious car, which whirled at break-neck speed towards the Strand.
Of course Lillian and Dan took every advantage of the opportunity,
seeing that Mrs. Bolstreath was sympathetic enough to close her eyes to
their philanderings. They talked all the way to the Curtain Theatre; they
talked all through the musical comedy; and talked all the way back to
the house at Hampstead. Mrs. Bolstreath, knowing that the young
couple would not have another opportunity for uninterrupted
love-making, and being entirely in favour of the match, attended to the
stage and left them to whisper unreproved. She could not see why Dan,
whom Lillian had loved since the pair had played together as children,
should be set aside in favour of a dry-as-dust barrister, even though he
had lately come into a fortune and a title. "But of course," said Mrs.
Bolstreath between the acts, "if you could only invent a perfect
flying-machine, they would make you a duke or something and give

you a large income. Then you could marry."
"What are you talking about, Bolly darling?" asked Lillian, much
puzzled, as she could not be supposed to know what was going on
inside her friend's head.
"About you and Dan, dear. He has no money and--"
"I shall make heaps and heaps of money," said Dan, sturdily; "aviation
is full of paying possibilities, and the nation that first obtains command
of the air will rule the world. I'm no fool!"
"You're a commoner," snapped Mrs. Bolstreath quickly, "and unless, as
I said, you are made a duke for inventing a perfect aeroplane, Lord
Curberry is certainly a better match for Lillian."
"He's as dull as tombs," said Miss Moon with her pretty nose in the air.
"You can't expect to have everything, my dear child."
"I can expect to have Dan," retorted Lillian decidedly, whereat Dan
whispered sweet words and squeezed his darling's gloved hand.
"Well," said Mrs. Bolstreath, as the curtain rose on the second act, "I'll
do my best to help you since I believe in young love and true love.
Hush, children, people are looking! Attend to the stage."
Dan and Lillian did their best to follow her advice and sat demurely in
the box side by side, watching the heroine flirt in a duet with the hero,
both giving vent to their feelings in a lively musical number. But they
really took little interest in "The Happy Bachelor!" as the piece was
called, in spite of the pretty girls and the picturesque scenery. They
were together and that was all they cared about, and although a dark
cloud of parental opposition hovered over them, they were not yet
enveloped in its gloom. And after all, since Mrs. Bolstreath was
strongly prejudiced in their favour, Lillian hoped that she might induce
Sir Charles to change his mind concerning Lord Curberry. He loved his
daughter dearly and would not like to see her unhappy, as she certainly

would be if compelled to marry any one but The One. Lillian said this
to Mrs. Bolstreath and to Dan several times on the way home, and they
entirely agreed with her.
"Although I haven't much influence with Sir Charles," Mrs. Bolstreath
warned them, "and he is fond of having his own way."
"He always does what I ask," said Lillian confidently. "Why, although
he was so busy this evening, he saw Mrs. Brown when I pleaded for
her."
"He couldn't resist you," whispered Dan fondly; "no one could."
Mrs. Bolstreath argued this point, saying that Lillian was Sir Charles's
daughter, and fathers could not be expected to feel like lovers. She also
mentioned that she was jeopardising her situation by advocating the
match, which was certainly a bad one from a financial point of view,
and would probably be turned out of doors as an old romantic fool. The
lovers assured her she was the most sensible of women and that if she
was turned out of doors they would take her into the cottage where they
proposed to reside like two turtle doves. Then came laughter and kisses
and the feeling that the world was not such a bad place after all. It was
a very merry trio that alighted at the door of Moon's great Hampstead
mansion.
Then came a shock, the worse for being wholly unexpected. At the
door the three were met by Marcus Penn, who was Moon's secretary.
He looked leaner and more haggard than ever, and his general attitude
was that of the bearer of evil news. Dan and Lillian and Mrs. Bolstreath
stared at him in amazement. "You may as