The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-07-06

1 De married In DreSQen on the 1tth' and will then go to the orient. Connie writes that for business reasons Mr |.
 Lambert has to go to the far east, to
 be gone for many months. and. as she 1 is so alone in the world. 1t seems best
 for them to be married at once. so l that she can go with him."
 The 27th!" said Elinor. Why. that ! Is tomorrow. Let us cable congratu- 1 lations and our love-"
 1 If polly and Elinor could have seen | Constance that morning she would 1 have had their sympathy, not their censure.
 l It was very frightened little 1 bride-to-be who sat in her parior in Dresden hotel, curled up in a big easy chair, gazing into the fire. She
 was thinking of her approaching we'd ding day with a feeling akin to dread, | for her conscience pricked her tor mentingly. Opposite her sat her fance, | looking at her with an expression of | affectionate amusement mingled with annoyance. Very cunning Constance looked in her lovely lace teagown. her curly hair knotted up on top of her head with bewitching carelessness. One
 little dainty slippered foot nervously
 beat a tattoo on the hearth. What is the matter, little one?' Lambert asked presently. with 8 reas- surfing smile. How very childlike she | looked, he thought to himself. What could be troubling her? We ought | not to have secrets from each other, he said, gently.
 T have some perfectly dreadful things to confess" Constance said, | timidly, and there were tears on her lashes. If I should tell you. I'm | I and. if you did. I don't know what would do."
 You blessed child" exclaimed Lambert Don't be afraid. Tell me what Is troubling you, dearest" Connie summoned all her courage. You said that we ought not to have | secrets from each other. so I am go- ing to tell you everything" she said. with a little sob In her voice-"every- thing"
 There was a little pause. Then she ! began:
 You have often spoken of my color," she said, and I think that you ought to know that sometimes my | cheeks would not be quite so pink if ] I didn't wear my collars rather tight to make tHem so. And I wear rat in my UompadourL" she went on.
 and" she paused for breath. 1 Jack tried not to laugh, for fear of ! hurting her feelings. None of these i dreadful things can make me stop | loving you," he said, with feigned gravity.
 1 But that Is not the worst" she 1 said. The most awful thing is about -oh. I can't bear to tell youI" and she hid her face. US about MT. Day. enport," she said, brokenly. Taplk'S "a pected her to tell him some trifle. This put more serious aspect on the
 matter. He had never asked her about Davenport.
 What is 1t, dearest?" he asked, gent
 ly. Then, as her sobs prevented her | replying, he tried to make it easier
 for her Were you Che could hardly
 bear to ask the question:. Were you divorced little girl?"
 She shook her head. Worse than
 that" s1e whispered. There never
 was Mir. Davenport. I've never been
 married at all!' and she wept hys-
 terically She poured out her whole
 heart to him-telling him how no man | had ever before taken her seriously; i how foolishly sensitive she had been l becausG she was the only unmarried 1 girl in her set; how handicapped she | had been, because, being unmarried, the conventions necessitated a chap
 eron, and how she had the foolish old i fashioned idea that old maids were l looked down upon. And so, while liv-
 ing abroad, she had sent out cards an nouncing to her friends her maria ge
 to man who did not exist, and had changed her name illegally from Jones | to Davenport. All this. and more, she
 told him. every confidence easing her
 aching heart B%c. manly. independent l fellow that Lamuert was, he felt a great tenderness for his little fiance and her follies. Poor little thing
 he thought to --mself. as be soothed
 and pettied her.