The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-12-07
The reporter

obtained the facts from which he made
! that leading article in the Star which
had SO startled all Washington on the
evening of the Jeffrey wedding. That
they had come from some eyewitness
had no doubt, but who was the eye
witness? Himself? No. Who then?
At first he declined to tell me, but aft
er a fuller understanding of my mo-
tives he mentioned the name of a young
lady who, while a frequent guest at
the most fashionable functions, was
not above supplying the papers with
such little items of current gossip as
came under her own observation.
How l managed to approach this lady
and by what means | succeeded in
gaining her confidence are details quite
unnecessary to this narrative. Enough
that did obtain access to her and that
she talked quite frankly to me and in
so doing supplied me with clew which
ultimately opened up to me an entirely
new field of inquiry.
We had been discussing Mr.. Jeffrey
and Miss Tuttle when suddenly and
with no apparent motive beyond the
natural love of gossip. which was her
weakness, she launched out into re-
marks about the bride. The ceremony
had been late. Did 1 know it? A half
hour or three-quarters past the time set
for it. And why? Because Miss Moore
was not ready. She had chosen to ar
ray herself in the house and had come
early enough for the purpose, but she
would not accept any assistance, not
even that of her maid, and of course
she kept every one waiting. "Oh,
there was no more uneasy soul in the
whole party that morning than the
bride.'' Let other people remark upon
the high look in Cora Tuttle's face or
gossip about the anxious manner of
the bridegroom, she fhe speaker) could
tell things about the bride which would
go to show that she was not all right
even before that ominous deaths head
reared itself into view at her marriage
festival. Why. the fact that she came
downstairs and was married without
her bridal bouquet was enough. Had
there not been so much else to talk
about, people would have talked about
that. But the big event had so effec-
tually swallowed up the little that only
herself and possibly two other ladies
she might name seemed to retain any
memory of the matter.
What LADIES'" l asked.
''Oh, it doesn't matter what ladies.
Two of the very best sort. know
they noticed it, because 1 heard them
talking about it. We were all stand
ing in the upper hall and were all
crowded into a passage leading to the
room where the bride was dressing.
1t was before the alarm had gone
around of what had been discovered in
the library, and we were all impatient
enough for the appearance OF the
bride, who. we had been told, intended
to wear the old point in which her
great-grandmother was married. l
have a weakness for old point and I
was determined to stand where could
see her come out, even If l lost sight
Of the ceremony itself. But it would
have been tedious enough waiting in
that close hall if the ladies behind me
had not kept up a conversation. which /
/. of course, pretended not to hear. l
remember it. every word, for 1t was
my sole amusement for half an hour /
What was it? oh, 1T was about that |
same bouquet, which. by the way, / /
had the privilege of staring at all the |
time they chatted. For the boy who /
brought it had not been admitted into /
Miss Moores room, and. not knowing /
what else to do with it. was lingering I
before her door, with the great stream
ers falling from his hands, and the |
lilies making the whole place heavy |
with a sickening perfume From what
l heard the ladies say, he had been
standing there an hour, and the timid
knock he gave from time to time pro-
duced in me an odd feeling which
those ladies behind me seemed to share.
Its q shamer 1 heard one of them
cry. Veronica Moore has no excuse
for such thoughtlessness. 1t IS an
hour now that she has been shut up
in her room alone. She won't have
even her maid in. She prefers to dress
alone, she says. Peculiar in a bride.
isn't it? But one thing is certain
she cannot put on her veil without
help. She will have to call some one
in for that At which the other yolun-
teered that the Moores were all queer, \
and that she didn't envy Francis JEFF
frey. What! not with fifty thousand
n year to tighten her odditiesg return
ed her companion with a shrug which
itself to me. SO closely
were we packed together. 1 have a
son who could bear with them under
such circumstances Indeed she has,
and all Washington knows it, but the
remark passed without comment. for
they had not yet exhausted the main
event, and the person they now attack
ed WAe.AexasxYHHs Whss0oesn't she |