Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-09-22
MRS. vAsnERBrKT's sfg1ER.

- Sah an euhanccd quality OF love oc
bought with IT,
MRS. vAsDERBIkT's Ms1ER
Take now the case Of Mrs. william Van
derbllt's sister. Miss Minnie Smith. Going
abroad not long since she was there mar
RED 20 French Baron. An account OF tho
affair was duly printed, giving an exact de-
scrpton Of the presents and tho length OF
tho bridal train. The family were much
annoyed ut the publicity given TO these
details. but they ought to have been crate
iul, for story might have boon told
that would have outdone the novelist
and that the public would have paid It's
highest price TO know. Il might have beeu
related how this heroine Jared across tho
water with twenty-Ouc trunks filled with
Mrs Nandei bits discarded gowns and
jewels, gorgeous and costly. and worn
scarcely at all, ostensibly 10 visit friend
hWt really 20 seek fortune, that she first
met the scion Of nobility rtR-G-rte at din
uer, and then and there permitted her way
ward mind 90 say that he was good
catch, and O, go handsome that she made
an eXertlOn 10 compass her desire, which n
60 So sbo dunued for his eye the most be
coming OF the money queens costumes.
SET CAUGHT mM.
How hc made fierce love, never wanting
Aa
Vanderbilt wardrobe. tho ambition 10 get
near the Vanderbilt money drawer being
quite sufficient incentive. How the novel
~ Of his fierce foreign moustache and
maun0 bovrldered hor senses. How shc'
pictured her improved position in New
York society as MS wife. IN short, It
was story Of complex passions
and unique incidents; OF marriage
and subsequent discovery Of tho
sciou's true choFactcr; Of cooling of, hate,
End a final yillainv, with a last tahloau re-
pT"eentiug tho victim standing foriOrn be-
tween tie DrOfcred solace Of the church
which shr had embraced ~ the instigatiOn
Of the scion and the frowns OF the Wealthy
family whose connection had enabled her
20 place herself 20 uucomfOrtably.
Think what q romance was here, and
vet the public coutCntrd itself with count
ing the presents. The public is not rapa-
clous after all.
There Is a mine Of romance in the lives
Of our bean monde into which no writer has
ever put spade. Perhaps no writer should.
But 1t cannot be wrong 10 discover TO the
world that IN Now York society there arc
hearts Of tender flesh. and so for this cause
DO not read with bated breath the tale |
am about to tell and afterwards ccnsure its
narration.
II is an episode in the Harper family and
concerns % lady who has been the wife of
two members of that famous publishing
firm.
CHATTER I.-Tacoy Mcdonald was the
lovely daughter Of n western senator
When the family moved 10 Washington
she was an inmate Of girls boarding.
school on the Hudson, and there her pa
rents determined 10 leave her, for they
thought II n more suitable place for
girl I'M her teens than the whr of society.
Form little time all went as planned. Tho
parents mingled with the giddy life Of the
capital, AMI cherished at the same time
tho comfortable knowledge that their
daughter was porting over books IN quiet
schJOl-rOOm far away. But there came a
day when AL tins was changed.
CHHTFE IL One afternoon some priv
lodged callers lOunged in Mrs. McDOuald's
boudoir. Gossip If the town mingled with
perfume of flowers pcryaded the ROOM
A,Iv nothlngs few about and touched now
one. now another, with subtle though
light carcss. except when the hostess spoke
of her little daughter coming French verbs
and practicing Beethoven the chat did not
approach literature OF the intellectual.
suddenly the door flew open and IN
sprane Miss Taccy. Pristine freshness was
upon her. and vet with her inexperience
there struggled an instructive perception
OF the ways Of the world which made the
most charming and contradictory whole
imaginable. She had run away from school.
Mamma" she announced, with little
wilful move and o tapping Of the foot,
" pve come home to stay. and you may as
well go ont and buy ne a wardrobe"
The piquaucy of tie situation, together
with the beauty of the maiden, captivated
the young men present. and they were all
eagerly anxious 10 enter petitions IN her
behalf Among them was Fletcher Harper,
son Of james Harper, OF Now York, and he
instantly lost his heart, and 1t may be
added, his head also, for he was at that
moment engaged to another lady, Miss
Smith, Of New York.
The young man broke his engagement
and in time persuaded Miss Mcdonald 10
marry him.
CHAPrER II.-Mrs Mcdonald brought
her daughter TO New York Cor the ceremony
and they occupied n suite of rooms at the
Ffth-AYenue Hotel.
CHATTER V.-lt was the night before
the wedding. The Worth costume and
other tnery had sll been received and
were spread over beds and chairs; sill
yer and jewels lay IN heaped. confusion
about. On the evening side of midnight
there was waited through tho corridors
something very like smoke. Presently the
dreaded cry came and 1t was known that
the Nfth-Aveuuo Hotel was on fire.
The bridegrOOm-elCct was not far from
the vicinity. as may be Opincd, and 10
winged Mercury would have had a chance
AGAINST him a. he few 10 the McDonalds'
Tacey and her mother were
put into q carriage and sent 10 the home o.
the Harpers in Grammercy Park, and
Fletcher returned and rescued the tIOs%du.
The only per5Ons done TO death on that
memorable night were some OF the servants
whose rooms gave onto an alr-shait up
which the smoke was drawn, but Fletcher
Harper. drenched from the hose, took
cold from which he never fully recovered.
CHAPTER N.-The wedding took place IN
Grammcrcy Park next day. The match
proved a not altogether compatible one.
She was fond Of Eayety and admiration,
while he had been trained IN the conserva-
tive school Of tho old New Workers, which
has the English aristOcracy for it's model.
Vhe Herp,rs. too, are very religious, zeal
ous Methodists. and frown on ball and
opera. The young people lived under the
parental roof and III the summer went 70
ihefamily country hOuse at Newburg tho
Hudson. Ii was all very magnificent. but
q trihc slow for the girl wife, who pined
Tor gayetles
CHAPrYR Win course of few years
Fletcher died and the young widow mar
ried HE brother VIII. The influence OF
time and environment are irresistible, and
Mrs. VIII. Harper is one OF the most con-
servatiVe Young matrons IN New YORK.
The Obligation of continuing many OF the
elder Harpers' charities has fallen upon
her aud she lends herself gracefully and
chcerfully To the task. One OF the phllan-
THRONES which claim her attention IS the
Harper summer Home for Working Mo-
men al Long Branch.