The reporters could not get to either Mr. or Mrs. Goodchild or to H. R.
or Grace. The papers therefore did not say that the young people, whose
courtship was a Fifth Avenue romance, had eloped. That might not be
true. But they printed Grace's photographs and H. R.'s and reviewed
H. R.'s meteoric career and called the rumor a rumor. That was common
sense.
Also, all the newspapers spoke about the Montagues and the Capulets. At
about 2.30 A.M. the reporters returned with expurgated versions of Mr.
Goodchild's denial. But the pages were cast. The late city editions
honorably printed:
Mr. Goodchild, when seen early this morning, denied the
rumor.
It was thus, at one stroke, that the nuptials of Grace Goodchild and
H. R. were definitely placed among the probabilities. The average
New-Yorker now knew it was only a matter of days.