It was simply a bit of news which the church-goers had read in the papers that morning.

To many a bud and belle it was a thunder-clap, a bolt from a cloudless heaven.

They whispered about it, lifted their eyebrows, and shrugged their shoulders.

But their mamas gave no sign.

If the fox of disappointment ate into their vitals, they determined, Spartan-like, that none should know it.