Breach of Promise.

Hastings Standard, Issue 87, 6 August 1896, Page 4

Breach of Promise.

[Dcnkdin* Star Correspondent." London, -Time 12. The sail story of " Pod^c" and Pussy " as illustrated before Mr Justice Hawkins and a special jury on Tuesday and Wednesday, contains * an editing moral, but exactly where it comes in I must le.no yi.".r readerto decide. "Podge" is the mmwhereby bis intimates tle>s£Pato Lord Sndley," heir apparent to tht of Anan, and 14 Pussy" is the pet MB& <* l#i * Hagr Gore, The lbi% ,

1v;;• r | -c-ril ■<l a-- a 1 ac tr< -omc \, /, at, i prt u 'I h : > ior 1 'Hi' i.i• ! hj» • plri. pn* -i . -1 1 1'"* pa—mess " ! and tVhii 1 sn.) i') Ihetl under | his protection. Lord Arraii then J a r t t ] jL . I, n< n, n 1 insisted : riii ns i-i"MihiL r . Sir George Luwsj ini. ;.• ; i vali ard .in agivement, » and itK 1 whole- atiair elo.-ed most. satis- ! f c < J At least 'it would have ! cl< l 1 hil Lord Sudley permitted it Itn do =o- Miss Gore was not discon- ' ih r She went to live with aMr j M v-ro>\ who. she says, wanted to I mnrry hr-r. and would have done so j lir■ d not his lorddiip n appf .n\d. It j m m nn nu/lu ml>o !, the old lovers 1 met Lord Sudley's susceptible 1 ti * ri raptured, and he admits 1 nni' h'ly to return to him. j Some of the letters written at this ; crisis and put in are nice reading. Th >i 1 e all addressed to Miss ' (tore as "Pussy." while the love- : lorn •> i-fount signed himself always j l'(id_'t , but whether this pet name w i> 1 e regarded as specially api'lt ilk to Ids physieial or mental qualities counsel was unable to say. Ihe fust letter was:—"Puss, my lutle love, jit w non't be a little silly, . and go on rnakmir up your mind until it is too late. Go now to the country, and do not be so weak as to continually put it oil'when the happiness of two people depends on it. Do, my own <larlir»fr. do. Good ni.crht. God bless you and keep you : I love you more than the world, as you know, and I am not the slightest changed. I swear it." 'j'":- written in June, 1894, when the dc kmlant was anxious that Miss (roi -h >uld many him, and that she should make up h>:r mind to give him the answer he sought. V* hen she was going to America he i ion "You are a fool to go, dear, . Nit ugh I say so, and you are making a git_, T mistake in your pussy life. Pussv, love, may you have a very, very 1 happv time. I still hope that you will not go at the last. God bless you, my Pussy." A letter on which counsel laid much stress was one in which Lord Sudley wrote to Miss Gore, who was then in America : " I'm so miserable and so j heartbroken. Oh, my Pussy, pussy love. Oh Pussy, oh dear, I don't know what to do. If I can get leave lam coming over to bring you back home for good." About the same time he wrote: "Oh, Pussy, oh my dear, dear fat love," the word "fat" signifying, as eouns 1 'id, an inexpressible degree of attachment. Mi>- tiou - story is that when Lord Su.lJf y n -'iiiu d amicable relations he asked h:-r to marry him, and, after much hesitation she consented. Later on sht a-Io 1 if he truly realised what it meant for him to marry her. He replied that he did; he was only anxious a little as to what his father would say. " When." asked his lordship, "did you break with the other gentleman '?" —•• I broke with Mr Stourton as soon as Lord Sudley asked me to marry him." Lord Sudley was always asking her to look at the family jewels, and he took her over the town house at Hertford street. He said he thought his" stepmother would be the first to call on her after marriage, because she would like to parade her goodness before the earl. He thought that Lady Esther Smith and Lady C'ranbone also would call. At this time the marriage was arranged for Christmas but it was put off to April, when Lord Sudley fell ill, and went to Cairo. On his return a little later he wrote to her saying he must see her at once. He went to her house and had an interview with her, in which he told her that owing to the importunities of his father he was obliged to break off the engagement. " You don't know what it is " to have your father kneeling before you and imploring you not to disgrace the family." Miss Gore told him he had ruined her life. She had lived with him at his own wish for two years and a half. One gentleman with whom she lived since breaking : with him had been willing to marry her, but he had now given her up owing to Lord Sudley renewing his attentions. After some correspondence in this strain Lord Sudley sent her a piece of paper on which were written the words : "I undertake to give you sufficient money to give you an income of £IOO per annum." The story told by Lord Sudley was perfectly straightforward, and not to bo shaken by any amount of remorseless cross-examination. He was much attached to the plaintiff, and when they met aguin in 1 HO4 he hail done his utmost to persuade her to resume the Ihtis-w, but he noir thought for a moment of marri ,ev, much less talked about it. During the second period he knew she was living with Mr Stourton. He had approached her with a \ iew of detaching her from him, "with no idea of marriage. She did not tell him Stourton knew there had bet n a |iopu-al of marriage. He was very tond of her and respected lit r. The i \puwoD in one of the letters. '• God biess you, I love you more than the world," was an expression of endearment. The only sacrifice he was going to make for her was financial. On his return , from Cairo he went to see her before he went to see Sir George Lewis. No matter what the issue of these proceedings be would settle £6,000 on her. After two and a-halt years he had allowed her £4OO and had paid her debts : on the second occasion, he proposed to give her about .£"3,000, viz., £IOO a year. The jury found a verdict for defendant without leaving the box.