Breach of Promise.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 6738, 21 April 1893, Page 3

Breach of Promise.

A Horrid Little " Bounder "

Curious Letters,

London, March 3. To those who are of opinion that good breeding is a matter of no particular account I command the following breach of promise case brought by a creature—a male creature named Morris—against a M'ss Leigh, of Nantwioh. The abaolute unconsciousness of the wretohed plaintiff that he had behaved like a cur was (an onlooker tells me) moat extraordinary. The early portion of the story may be passed over. Its crisis was marked by the following letter from defendant to plaintiff:— My Dear Arthur, —You will have received papa's letter refusing hie consent. I hope you won't think it very unkind, but I must Bay we were perfectly astonished at the small extent of your business and income, and none more bo than myself, as I have never for a moment supposed that you would have lees than £400 a year, as I should not care to be married from here after what I have been u ; ed to for anything less than that; and I have faithfully promised my father not to do so, for he knows as well as I do myself that I should be perfectly miserable if I had to count every shilling before it went. 1 should not care to go from here to a house at less than £40 a year rent. 1 should want one good ~ servant and a lady's maid. Then, again, you cannot feed four people on less thau £3 a week, putting it at the lowest, and it •would be utterly impossible to pay gas and water out of that Then, when the rates, wage?, and taxes are paid there would be very little for drees and travelling expenses and thi odd things that; always crop up when we least expect them. It is perfeotly impossible, my dear Arthur, as my father distinctly gave me to understand that he would not help me with a penny. It muet be, therefore, given up until euch time as your business improves. Then, ot course, if you care to come to me again it would be a very ditferent matter. Do your best to work it up in the meantime, for I have a plan in my head which, if it meets with your approval, I am perfeotly willing to carry out, ; as I should like to see you a successful man. I should cave as much of one or two years' ' income as I possibly can, and lend it to you ; at a low rate of interest, for ie seems to me . that you would have a better chance with ; more capital, (n this way I could easily let ' you have any sum up to £1000, but I could not advance anything until twelve months ( after I came into possession, because I have ' no power to touch the principal. No one •would be more interested in your progress ' than I should, and if I iound you were { really making it pay I should deny myself a great deal to let you have more. After l papa's letter you oannot come to ace me any l more. I expect it will now be many a year j before you and I can think of marrying. • Let me know if you wieh me to send your ' ring baofc, as I very much doubt that your patience will last so many years as it probably will have to if you perbi.t ie waiting for me Mr M'Keand, for. the plaintiff, said the * acquaintance began two years ago, and after a gome tima the defendant promised to marry Mr Morris, who was about twenty-seven, and aeited him to go and stay at Nantwich, where she lived with her father. Their engagement was kept secret, but it would j eeem that th j defendant got tired of waiting, and she suggested that tho plaintiff should •* get a license at Manchester Cathedral, and c that they should be married. In order to qualify by residence, the plaintiff went and reeided at the Victoria Hotel for fifteen days, got the license, and was willing to be married. Up to that timo they had betnon t , the moat friendly terms, but on October 5 she sent the following telegram :—" Post- « pone everything uuti I can aoe you again. a Polly has had a dream " (Laughter ) Polly, he believed, was the defendant's oousin. Tho ttlegram continuad : " suspicions aroused. I'u very angry. Watch threatened. Dare not come." Laughter.) That was the firot intimation the plaintiff had that anything wae wrong. TLo corres- a pondence that followed included not only p the lettor above quoted, but this from the &; plaintiff: — Dear Lizzie,—Your letter to hand. I P cannot imagine a lady writing such a cutting letter after what has taken place -w between tie, also the oath you took. I told you from the first I had very little money— **► indeed, next to none; and you told mo in one of your letters, which I have in my possession, you would require no money from me for anything, and what I might make I could spend on myself. It was you who ahked me to marry you. Why did you ■write me and ask me to get the license and the ling, which I did ; also arranged with the clergyman ? It was arranged by yourself that we should be married on the Gth Ootober, 1891 ; when, only two hours before the wedding should have taken place, a telegram arrives. You munt not thiok I shallbe trifled with. I would have sacrißced my life for you, but you have blighted my happiness. I care not what becomes of me. p ( I will not trouble you with my letters, but Bomeone else may on my behalf. If it costs y » me all I have I will expoee your letters and " telegrams in every paper. re ■"" The lady replied as follows : — _ Dear Arthur,-Your letter this morning A grieved me terribly. I cannot imagine ac how you came to take things in the light you have done. Do you for a moment think I mean to go from my word ? You »■ never were more mistaken. Why, papa p< and William both last night asked me if I intended to marry you. I told them both distinctly yes, when I had some monoy of ca my own to put to your income, for, dear tt Arthur, they told me you had only £120 a i. year. If it had been a little more I think I ye H could have managed. But with no money. b £ I of my own there would certainly be none y~ for you to spend. Do you know if you did f what you say you will kill me, and what in irood would that do ? As sure as there is a m God in Heaven, and if I were to die the •next minute, I love no one but you. Come 8t and asfc Polly and William if they will tell j< you the same. I will give you all I have if L I can only make you happy. Will you write and let me know if you forgive me w writing a letter, the sense of which you have quite mistaken. If you desert me, Arthur, you will kill me. Please write and let me know what you intend to do, for I cannot promise more than this. b< Mr tthee, Q, C, for the defence, read h| another letter from the lady, on which the defendant, he said, had placed two sixpenny "legal" stamps : — Thank you a thousand timea for writing to me Oh, the misery of the last day. I told my bcother that very night that you were here, but, Arthur, dear, when it came to my father I could not do it. God forgive me, I was afraid it would kill him . when he found I had deceived him. I then ir prayed over it and came to this conclusion, fi but if you atill insist 1 will go away from t j home and never come back again, and then you will never see me, for, Arthur, foar cl would take the place of love, and I had f ( better try and earn a crust for myself and live alone for the rest of my life. God would " take care of me, though by doing so I should t< lose my whole future. I ask once more. It t( is your only chance of happiness for the future and mine too. I have your sixpence W and wear it constantly, even though I tl cannot see jou; but I nive you that tign that I am always true though I get no letter. Wi'l share my future with you if you will only have patience and let mo have my own way. On the other hnud, if yon still insist I cinnot face it, Arthur. I will go and you will cover Bee me more. Won't lot another sun go down on your anger. If you do this thing I would forgive you, as I hope a good God will deal mercifully with me, but see J you again I never could. If you won't do >ua I ask you, write and let me know. If I ~lget no letter I shall know you will keep t silenue until I can tnare all wh«n I set it ( I promise you solemnly I will never rmrry anyone ehenrr fl.rt. though you oaunot Bee me I will be f Uthful to the end, but face this awful trouble I cannot. Bemember I have no money and no strength to battle with the world, and your action would tike from me all my friends. If you ever wished to prove your love prove it now, and don't let me live to fear you. If ever you ehould ( hear of me attempting to marry anyone but f you I would say expose all you know, but until then I think, Arthur, you should still trust me. Please God you will never have the cause. The defendant had paid £20 into Court and the plaintiff had filed particulars of his expenses : Nantwick £10, engagement ring £9 hotel expenses £6, marriage license £10, loss in business £200, having given up prospects in China and stopped in England at the defendant's requebt. The defendant . and her father (she has no motber) had gone to live at Leamington. The plaintiff was cross-examined at great lenuth by Mr Shee. He had waited about ,■•*— year after the breaking off of the match before bringing the present action, and had pre-r.iouely tried to make a settlement *"*"*"" 'of thu matter without coming into Court. The plaintiff admitted that he had that day been told by a solicitor ia Court that the defendant had no means beyond £30 or £40 per year for dress until after her father died, and further that the father was not defending the action, and would have nothing to do with it. The father had written to the plaintiff on October 20th and told him that he could not consent to the proposed marriage, and that his daughter wae of the Bame opinion. . Miss Elizabeth Leigh, the defendant, m her evidence said that the plaintiff had always been very kind and seemed fond of her. Her father was seventy-eight, and she had expected £20,0C0 at his death, but not now, because he was co augry. It was after hia death she hoped to havo lent plaintiff £1000. He plaintiff hid told her he kept hantere. She had copied the words about gas and rates from the Girls' Newspaper.—(Laughter ) Was not ho fond of him after all this trouble —(Laughter ) Mr Shee, in his address, suggested the lady's fortune as a motive for tho conrtthip and revenge as the motive for the action. The Judge, in eummoning up, as'ied the iurv to coneider whether in connection with the letters read the lapse of a year V was suffioieit to constitute a breach of the i-s*~ promise. The jury returned a verdict for the defendant, and the judge ordered the £20 paid into Court to be returned to her.—Dunediu Star correspondent. I

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