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The
Baby
Hope Theft
A mystery
in four parts
Projo.com's
interactive mystery contest for writers and illustrators centers on a
fictional tale in four parts -- a jewel heist at a Newport dinner party.
For contest entrants, this series will provide essential background information
about the setting and scene of the crime. G.
Wayne Miller has written the first chapter, and readers are invited to
write and illustrate the next three parts.
Read Chapter One
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About
the story
Staff Writer
G.Wayne Miller spent the summer of 1999 visiting the shuttered world
of Newport society. He reports on his travels in a six-part serial
narrative with photographs by Journal Photographer
Connie Grosch.
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The
Grande Dame
It's a morning near
the end of May, and I am ringing the bell of a private estate on
Newport's Bellevue Avenue, one of America's most exclusive addresses.
A granite wall, wrought-iron gate, and copper beech trees shield
the house from the street.
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Much
Ado
A butler answers
the door of Dorrance Hill Hamilton's summer residence and shows
me to a seat in the sun-drenched living room, which is decorated
with original watercolors and filled with vases of freshly cut flowers.
As I await the lady of the house, the butler serves iced tea with
mint from one of the gardens. It's the day after the Fourth of July,
when Newport society officially launched its summer season with
festivities at Bailey's Beach.
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Midsummer
Nights
It's eight o'clock
on Saturday night, July 10, and women in evening gowns and men in
tuxedos are streaming into Eileen Slocum's Bellevue Avenue residence.
Eileen greets her guests in the front hall and introduces them to
her granddaughter, her granddaughter's fiance, and the fiance's
mother. I proceed down the receiving line and on through the drawing
room onto the crowded south terrace, where I order champagne.
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Family
Affairs
Years ago, the Newport summer season reached its zenith with Tennis Week, which used to be celebrated in August. But tennis's hold waned, leaving summer colonists to their own amusements -- and, every three years, to Coaching Weekend, which actually consumes the better part of a week. Ostensibly an exhibition of horsemanship and finely crafted carriages and coaches, Coaching Weekend provides an excuse for a public ball and a punishing schedule of private parties. One of the best will be at Dodo Hamilton's Swiss Village, the early 20th-century gentleman's farm that she is restoring to original splendor.
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Fortune's
Children
Barely recovered from Maureen and John Donnell's dinner party the previous night, I find myself knocking on Lisette Prince's door the morning of Friday, Aug. 20. Tired herself from entertaining a houseguest into the early hours, Lisette nonetheless is chipper. Over coffee, she introduces me to her guest, the sixtyish George A. Weymouth, who is descended from du Ponts.
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A
Wedding and a Funeral
I park amidst a fleet of luxury automobiles and walk to the Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist, a magnificent stone structure with a view of scenic Newport Harbor. Limousines stop in front while women in gowns and men in tuxedos line up to enter; across the street, onlookers in more modest attire crane for a better view. It is shortly before 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11. This morning's rain clouds have all blown out to sea, leaving a pristine late-summer evening, perfect for a wedding.
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