The Ogden Standard-Examiner from Ogden, Utah • Page 26

THE OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 8, 1923 Pretty Constance Bennett's Father Was Taking Her to Europe "9 a ith Him to Her Away From nowadays place little if any reliance orrfhe old-time theory that "absence makes the heart grow fonder." In fact, many of them feel quite sure that absence has exactly the opposite effect on the youthful heart. When they have a son or daughter who is growing fonder than they like of some, one and they begin to have fears of a runaway marriage, they whisk their child off to -Europe, or perhaps to some more distant part of the earth, for a long stay. A lengthy separation from the of the young person's infatuation is confidently counted on either to blight the budding romance so that it will never bloom or to delay its flowering until some time which th'e parents regard as more suitable, in view of the lovers' youth or other conditions. This was exactly the line of reasoning that Mr. and Mrs.

Richard Bennett followed a few weeks ago when they began to be worried over the close intimacy that was. springing between their remarkably pretty daughter, Constance, and young Philip Plant. Their worry was due to no objections to young Plant as a prospective husband for the girl oh, no, indeed! He has wealth, social position and all the other advantages which the most ambitious of fathers or mothers could desire in a son-in-law. Philip is the son of the late Morton Plant, tho multimillionaire hotel, railroad and steamship magnate. He already has his hands on a generous share of tho millions his father left, and eventually will have practically all of thfini.

His mother laid aside her widow's weeds some time ago to marry Colonel William Hayward, United States District Attorney, and so Philip has a very distinguished stepfather to guide his feet in tho paths a well-behaved young millionaire is supposed to take. It was because of no objections to Plant, but for reasons concerned entirely with Constance, that made her parents anxious to prevent the young people falling deeply enough in love to be eager for an early marriage. In addition to being an unusually beautiful girl, Constance Bennett is a most precocious one. is only eighteen now, and was just sweet sixteen when she made her debut. Into those two.

years she has crowded more romance and other thrills than many women get in a whole lifetime. To begin with, there was a runaway marriage that hapl to be annulled. Next came. a little fling a't fashionable society. J.ife, followed by a try at acting in the movies and a brief but brilliant career as a dancer.

And now this growingly ardent affair with Philip Plant. Is it any wonder that Mr. and Mrs. Bennett felt it their duty to put the brakes on this eighteen-year-old spced- And How He Found Philip's Taking Him Abroad for a Similar Reason on the VERY SAME SHIP! On the left, Colonel and Mrs. William a a parents of Philip Plant, the young man in the case ster.

and have" her wait a few years before deciding on a second husband? "If we could only send her to Europe," sighed Mrs. Bennett, as she and her husband pondered the situation, but at the time a trip abroad did not fit in with the family's plans for the summer. Then one day Mr. Bennett came home with news of his engagement to appear in a motion picture that was to be filmed in Rome. He would have to there at once.

"The very thing!" cried Mrs. Bennett. "You can take Connie with you, and by the time she comes back she will have forgotten all about this affair with Phil Plant." The Bennetts broached the plan to Constance with some trepidation, to their surprise, she seemed delighted with the idea of accompanying her father to Italy and remaining there all summer. As they recalled 'later, she showed particular enthusiasm over the fact that they were to leave on. the White Star liner Majestic's very next sailing from New York.

Mr. and Mrs. Bennett began to think that they had greatly overestimated the degree of their daughter's interest in Philip Plant. They were positive of this when the sailing day came and they found among the heaps of flowers and bon voyage that filled Connie's stateroom not one thing bearing his card. But they learned otherwise a few minutes later, when they stood with their daughter and their other children on deck, saying goodby.

Suddenly Constance left her parents and darted to the. rail to wave and call a smiling greeting to some one coming on board. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett followed.

their daughter's gaze and saw coming up the gangplank behind a squad of baggage- laden porters Colonel and Mrs. William Hayward and their son, Philip Plant! As was soon revealed, Mrs: Hayward and Philip were also sailing for a summer, on the Majestic. 6 They had staterooms on same deck as those of the. Bennett father and daughter, and quite close to them. Mr.

and Mrs. Bennett were amazed to see how miserably their carefully laid plans for breaking up their daughter's little affair had failed. Instead of separating her from Philip Plant, they had succeeded only in bringing the two closer together. Now the little beauty and the heir to all the Plant millions a week of the cosy intimacy which an X' liner affords. And after reaching Europe, with Mr.

Bennett busy with liis film work' and Mrs. Hayward occupied with shopping and her many social duties, who could tell bow much they would manage to see of each other? Why, it would not be at all surprising if they returned in the fall engaged and with their plans- all made for a wedding before Christmas. Colonel and Mrs. Hayward are said to have been just as astonished and'dis- appointed over the situation as the.Ben nett For they are believed to- have planned Philip's summer Europe for exactly the same reasons which prompted Mr. and Mrs.

Bennett to send Constance abroad. They greatly admire Constance Bennett--think her one of the-most charming girls of whom America, can boast. But she is so young, and Philip, too. On this account and because Philip, like Constance, has already been' involved in one unfortunate romance, they are anxious for him to wait until he is older befpre thinking again about love and marriage. Like the Bennetts and countless other parents facing situations, they had decided on a long separation as the best means of postponing this romance indefinitely or perhaps bringing it to a sudden end.

And, instead 'of accomplishing what they had set out to, they succeeded only in making, matters easier for the young lovers. Some years ago, while Philip. Plant was still in 'school, he was attendance 'on Helene Jesmer, an exquisitely beautiful girl, who had come from her home in the West to be one of the'' most admired of alj the admirable show girls in a famous Broadway review. Everybody thought it was" a sure enough love affair and that Helene Jesmer's firlt season behind the footlights Miss Constance Bennettj the very lively and very insr American beauty was bound to end in her winning a millionaire husband. This romance, however, went to smash one November night, when Philip Plant's high-powered limousine skidded into a tree on Pelham Bay Parkway.

Plant and all his merry party of except Helene Jesmer escaped with only minor injuries. She was hurled through the wind. shield and was carried to a hospital, suffering from broken bones and severe cuts and bruises on her lovely face, neck and arms. For a few days after the accident sorrowing young Plant was unceasing in his. calls at the 'hospital.

But- Heleno Jesmer swathed in bandages was evidently a far less alluring creature than she had been in a musical comedy costume or a amart evening gown. At any rate, the young millionaire's hospital visits suddenly ceased. A short time later Miss brought suit against the young man the Broadway gossips thought sure she was going to marry for $250,000 damages. She alleged that her beauty, on which she had counted to win fame and fortune, had been irreparably damaged in automobile, accident. The case is to come up for trial this fall.

this little romance, with its ending- for Helene Jesmer and its expensive one for young JMr. Plant, is only- a commonplace corn- Spared with the. thrills that have filled Constamce Bennett's recent Two years ago this very summer she was even more deeply interested in Chester Moorehead than she now is in Philip Plant. is the son of a Chicago surgeon and he and Plant were-at one time'chums in school. On the very night of her coming-out party' Constance let "Chet" Moorehead persuade her to elope with him to Greenwich, Conn.

They succeeded in convincing- the authorities there that she was twenty-one, instead of the bare Miss Helene Jesmer as she looked' before the accident for which she sued Philip Plant for $250,000 sixteen she looked and was, and were married. Immediately after the ceremony the little bride had a of heart and decided the whole thing was a mistake. Without giving her youthful husband even one honeymoon kiss to.pay for the gasoline he had burned on the trip to Greenwich and the other expenses of the runaway marriage, she' insisted on going straight back to her maidenly room in her parents' home. Of course, young Moorehead was tremendously indignant at losing a wife with such dizzying suddenness and he sought an annulment of the marriage. It was granted last year, after he had charged that.

Constance Bennett had never intended to live "with him, anyway, and she had said that it was all a bit of silly "puppy love." Although Connie's father is a well- known actor and her mother was formerly on the stage, they wanted this eldest daughter of theirs to settle down to the life, of a fashionable society girl. But the butterfly existence- of a smart set deb palled on her after a few weeks and she went into the movies. Even this was not exciting enough to suit her pep-loving tastes and she next took up professional ballroom At this she was very happy and successful, for the blood of many genera- tions of dancing ancestors flows in her and. it; is. hard for her twinkling feet to keep 'still once the band begins to play.

New York was enthusiastic -about the grace with which she whirled over the floor of a p'opular grillroom in the arms of her dancing partner, Basil Durant. It was while filling her engagement at this grillroom since closed by -the prohibition' laws--that she met Philip Plant and began to to her already eventful life may prove its most interesting chapter. Constance's father and and Philip Plant's parents, however, show no intention of abandoning their plans to delay this romance, or perhaps break it up entirely. When she found that Philip Plant was also to pass the summer in Europe Mrs. Bennett hurriedly packed up her things and followed her husband across the Atlantic-evidently to lend a hand in looking after Constance.

And if Mrs. Hayward finds her son's hunger for romance getting out of control, doubtless she will call on her husband to come over and deal with the situation. If Colonel Hayward does join his wife in Europe he will undoubtedly add fresh interest -to the struggle between the young lovers, for he is skilled in all sorts of military and legal strategy. 'During the war he commanded a regiment of negro troops. As United States attorney for the district of New York, he has made a record for his vigorous prosecution of 'all kinds of lawbreakers, and particularly those who-take liberties with the Volstead act.

Will Constance Bennett and Philip Plant be able to overcome the united opposition of their four parents? Will their hearts succeed in having their way in spite of all the wisdom, wealth and authority that are arrayed against them? Time alone will but nobody.can deny that the young lovers have won the first move in the game. Whether the sailing of Miss Bennett and young Mr. Plant on the same liner was a mere chance or the result of skillful connivance on their part has not yet been revealed. The faces of. the young people' wore very well satisfied smiles as the Majestic, left its pier, and perhaps.

they wilhbe stjll more radiant when they return in the fall. Many of their predict Christmas wedding..