Produced by Audrey Longhurst, Sankar Viswanathan, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net TOLD IN A FRENCH GARDEN AUGUST, 1914 BY _Mildred Aldrich_ _Author of_ _"A Hilltop on the Marne"_ BOSTON SMALL, MAYNARD & COMPANY 1916 Copyright, 1916 BY MILDRED ALDRICH TO F. E. C. a prince of comrades and a royal friend, whose quaint humor gladdened the days of my early struggle, and whose unfailing faith inspired me in later days to turn a smiling face to Fate CONTENTS CHAPTER INTRODUCTION How We Came into the Garden I THE YOUNGSTER'S STORY It Happened at Midnight--The Tale of a Bride's New Home II THE TRAINED NURSE'S STORY The Son of Josephine--The Tale of a Foundling III THE CRITIC'S STORY 'Twas in the Indian Summer--The Tale of an Actress IV THE DOCTOR'S STORY As One Dreams--The Tale of an Adolescent V THE SCULPTOR'S STORY Unto This End--The Tale of a Virgin VI THE DIVORCEE'S STORY One Woman's Philosophy--The Tale of a Modern Wife VII THE LAWYER'S STORY The Night Before the Wedding--The Tale of a Bride-Elect VIII THE JOURNALIST'S STORY In a Railway Station--The Tale of a Dancer IX THE VIOLINIST'S STORY The Soul of the Song--The Tale of a Fiancee X EPILOGUE Adieu--How We Went Out of the Garden TOLD IN A FRENCH GARDEN INTRODUCTION HOW WE CAME INTO THE GARDEN It was by a strange irony of Fate that we found ourselves reunited for a summer's outing, in a French garden, in July, 1914. With the exception of the Youngster, we had hardly met since the days of our youth. We were a party of unattached people, six men, two women, your humble servant, and the Youngster, who was an outsider. With the exception of the latter, we had all gone to school or college or dancing class together, and kept up a sort of superficial acquaintance ever since--that sort of relation in which people know something of one another's opinions and absolutely nothing of one another's real lives.