ROMANTIC FRENCH LAW CASE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 129, 1 June 1901, Page 5 (Supplement)

ROMANTIC FRENCH LAW CASE.

THE VIRTUOUS WIDOW AND THE BARON'S RELATIONS. I

One of the most romantic cases ever inscribed on the list of the prosaic Civil Tribunal of the Seine is that connected with the estate or succession of the late Baron Delort de Gleou. The nobleman in question fell desperately in love with and married a young widow beneath him in station, and when he died he left the life interest of his fortune, estimated at over £40,000, to his relict, with reversion to his sister, Madame Rich. Out of the estate 50 Suez Canal shares, deposited in the office of the company, have disappeared. They were withdrawn soon after the baron's death, and Madame #Uch claims them back from her sister-in-law, thewidow, whom she charges with retaining them. The complainant has asked the Civil Tribunal, says the Paris correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph," to order the widow to return the shares, or their equivalent in money, which is ISO.OOOfr, or £7200. The romantic elements of the case lost nothing in the hands of the lawyers on both sides, and especially in those of counsel for the widow, who gave the Court a narrative which will prove most useful for writers of thrilling serials for tht^popular papers. Maitre Rousset, for Madame Rich, lirst addressed the Court, and set forth that the Baron Deloret de Gleou, when over 40 years old, married Madame Besnard, a widow, at the same time acknowledging that she came from an utterly bad stock. He admitted this to his sister In a letter, but insisted that he was marrying a charming and thoroughly respectable woman, and not her family. The marriage took place in 1880, and was hotly opposed by the baron's relatives, who now brought an action for the recovery of property which they affirm to be in the possession of the widow, and that IN AN IRREGULAR MANNER. Maitre Signorino, representing the widow, sakl that it was not sufficient to admit that Madame Besnard, now the Baroness de Gleon, was a thoroughly respectable woman. She was more than that, and in order co appreciate her virtues and refinement of feeling her history should be known. She was an orphan child with several brothers and sisters, when she was adopted by some excellent persons, who had her educated in a convent. Her relatives were not respectable people, but she herself was a paragon of virtue. An aunt left her some money, and at the age of 20 she had the misfortune to bo married to a person named Besnard, who squandered half her doWry and deserted her. She obtained a separation decree in 1879, and four years afterwards became a widow. About 1879 she met Baron Delort de Gleon at a charity bazaar. He was struck by her remarkable attractions, and he madfc love to her. As counsel put it, the Baron, rich, and accustomed to easy conquests, wns surprised by the resistance offered to his impassioned appeals by the young woman who was her own mistress. By degrees his heart began to burn with a I holiei flame, and for nearly four years he wooed the charming widow. He wrote to her almost daily letters which Maitre SigJ norino described as one long cry of love. Some of the letters were read in Court. The widow's answers were also given in a fragmentary manner. They showed that she reciprocated the baron's love, but she suggested that they should not meet for a time in order to see whether absence would really make THE HEARTS GROW FONDER or otherwise. So matters went on until 1883, when the man Besnard (lied. The baron heard the news in Egypt, where he was staying. He at once hurried back from the banks of the Nile and offered his hand and heart to the young widow. Then his family intervened, and notably his sister and hia nephew. The antecedents of the widow's progenitors or other relatives were raked up. It was pointed out that she was the descendant of a family whose name was disgraced. The baron heeded not, and it whi then that he uttered the memorable aphorism referred to by his sister's lawyer: "I am marrying the woman, and not her family." Madame Besnard, on her side, bogged of her lover to withdraw his offer of marriage aud to leave her. "Allow me," she wrote, "to cherish a sad but sweet remembrance of the dream which has been ' I broken by your family." The baron replied by fixing the date of tne marriage, and lie had 17 years of wedded bliss with the woman of his choice. In conclusion, Maitre Signorino said that th* family were now endeavouring to revenge themselves for the failure of their efforts in ISS3, and that they were bringing forward charges for ■which there was no 'foundation whatever. This interesting case was then adjourned for a fortnight, when the gentleman who acted as secretary to the late Baron Delort de Gleon is to be called with reference to the withdrawal of the shares from the office of the Suez Canal Company.