A SEASIDE ROMANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 9497, 28 April 1894, Page 2 (Supplement)

A SEASIDE ROMANCE.

A SHEFFIELD MAN'S EXTRAORDINARY SUIT. Mr. William Edgar Allen (says a London paper) is a manufacturer in the cutlery metropolis—Sheffield. He is a man over whom half a century has passed, and with slow and saddening stops he entered the Divorce Court to pray that the matrimonial chain which-bound him to his young wife, Maud Charlotte Sarah Allen, now staying at the Grand Hotel, should be severed. Mrs. Allen is a v slim-built woman with light-coloured hair, and wearing a pincenez of tinted glass. Her bonnet was of black with buttercup adornment, while the gown was of fawn material. The accusations, made against her was she had been unfaithful with Mr. Charles Ernesb Bell, of Park House, Durham, a (relative of the late Sir Lowthian Bell. The lady suggested there had been connivance, and that her discontented husband behaved cruelly. There was a strong array of counsel. Sir Henry James, Q.C., M.P., with freshly-powdered wig, Sir Edward Clarke, Q. 0., M.P., shaggy-browed and wrapped in thought, and Mr. Frank Lockwood, Q.C., M.P., unusually demure, were all retained—to say nothing of the juniors—for Mr. Allen, Mr. Lawson Walton, Q.C., M.P., defended Mrs. Allen, and Mr. Bigbam, Q.C., along with Mr. Bargrave Deane, appeared for Mr. Bell. "How long is this case going to last?" asked a press representative, and one of the counsel replied " Probably a week." Whereupon the journalist settled down to the task of relating to the world how this social drama was unfolded beforo Sir Francis Jeune and a jury. It was with many little bursts of indignation and passionate exclamation that Sir Henry James told the story of how Mr. Allen met the lady, loved her, married her, and then reponted. He had a little holiday at Scarborough in 1887, and among the visitors at the hotel was Miss Shaw. SHE FASCINATED HIM. Ho paid her great attention. He inquired who she was, and as far as his investigation went she was in all respects a lady. Tho acquaintance ripened ; then it cooled, and then it ripened again. At Whitby she introduced her lover to Mr. and Mrs. Bell, and he visited their house at Durham. All went well. In June, 1890, Mr. Allen and Miss Shaw wore married quietly at St. George's, Hanover Square, the lady declaring no relatives should be present. They went to the Riviera on the honeymoon. At the end of six weeks they went to Bergen in Sweden, and there who should turn up bub Mr. Bell ? Returning home to Sheffield Mrs. Allen was most dissatisfied. She wanted to leave her husband and travel on the Continent. She quarrelled and wrote abusive letters to Mr. Allen. In the most unmeasured terms she accused him of having ft number of mistresses. "You pay them highly," she said ; " why not pay me as if I was one of them ?" This was strange conduct for a lady if she had been brought up in purity and virtue. In the spring of 1892 she pub her husband at defiance. She went away and refused to give the slightest information where she was. She said, " Write to post-restante Aix-10-Bain," or " Write to such and such a bank." Of course, THIS WAS INTOLERABLE

for Mr, Allen. What was tho lady doing all the time ? Why, she was living as the paramour of Mr. Bell, and she now actually stated that within 16 days of the marriage Mr. Allen knew she had been Bell's mistress, and that the husband was desirous she should continue so. Of course, said Sir Henry James with a glow of indignation, this was an infamous assertion. lb would be proved, he added, that on May 7, 1892, she stayed ab the Hotel Continental, in Paris. Mr. Bell joined her. In July she was ab Ostend and Bruges, and again Air. Bell was there. There was no direct evidence thab at) Ostend intimacy occurred between the pair, bub an inquisitive chambermaid who listened ab two o'clock in the morning ab Mrs. Allen's bedroom door, heard the voice of a man. It was indisputable, however, they occupied tlw same apartments at Bruges. Upon proving all this Sir Henry said he would ask the jury to find that Mrs. Allen was unfaithful to her husband, and should no longer be entitled to bear his name. The petitioner in the suit then gave evidence. He is a wellbuilt,, well-preserved man with healthy complexion. The voice is that of a Yorkshire man. As he is somewhat deaf ho stood in the well of the court while being examined. He described how HE MET TUB LADY AT SCARBOROUGH, she having a private income of nearly £300 a year. She introduced him to Mr. Bell, and in reply to Sir Edward Clarke, Mr. Allen repudiated the assertion that on the wedding tour he learned of his wife's relationship with Mr. Bell, and desired ib should continue. Her accusations against him were unfounded. She defied him and went off to the Continent, refusing to tell of her whereabouts. There was much eagerness about Mr. Walton's cross-exami nation. > Mr. Allen admitted he was frequently'abroad, bub it was nob true his wife beseeched him to stay with her. There was no truth in his wife's assertion " he was a thoroughly worn-out old roue." Petitioner in his evidence bore out the opening statement of counsel, after which the charge of cruelty was withdrawn, and evidence was taken as to the adultery of tho respondeat. In tho depositions of the foreign wibnesses ab the Grand Hotel Fontein, Ostend, ib was alleged that the respondent's bedroom there was visited by a gentleman. One witness had listened ab the doer owing to the person occupying the adjoining room having complained of a gentleman disturbing him by knocking ab the respondent's bedroom door. Mrs. Allen, the respondent, then went into the witness-box ana denied the charges Made against her as unfounded. In her crosii-examination she stated that she had been brought up by her guardian, Mr. Speechley, from the age of 13 with a view to marriage, and she had received an allowance of £200 per annum from Mr. Speechley, owing to his having married his housekeeper, In the course of Mrs. Allen's re-examina-tion she declared that the only person who was ever in her room ab the Hotel Fountaine, Ostend, was the waiter who brought her some whisky and water before retiring for the night. Waiters always brought things when they were wanted at night. Sir Henry James: What, when ladies are in bed ? Yes; the things are always brought into the room by the waiters. The maids never bring them. CO-RESPONDENT IN THE BOX. Mr. C. Bell, mining engineer, residing at Park House, Durham, said he was tho corespondent, and gave a direct and absolute denial to the charges. Neither before her marriage nor after had there been the slightest impropriety between him and Mrs, Allen. Ah to the allegations made against him as taking place abroad, ho declared that ho was in Durham tho time it was said he was in Paris, and he had never been in Bruges in his life. He had had financial business with Mrs. Allen, and he had seen her at times in that matter. The respective counsel then addressed tho jury. A SCENE, Sir Henry James, on behalf of the petitioner, reviewed the evidence as to tho visit to Ostend, and as to the respondent nob mentioning the fact of her having advised Mr. 801 l of her intention to visit Ostend. On Sir Henry James reading to the jury a letter written by the petitioner to a Mr. Geddie, in which he stated his great affection for the respondent, bub at the same time writing that she could always deceive him, and that he could not prevent her from corresponding with whom she liked, Mrs. Allen rushed from the court in an excited and hysterical. condition. . The learned judge summed up the case at considerable length. THE VERDICT.' The jury, after an hour and a quarter's consideration, returned a verdict •that Mrs. Allen had committed adultery with Mr. Bell and some person unknown. His lordship granted a decree nisi with costs. He granted a stay of execution in the case of the co-respondent, pending con sideration as to taking it to tho Court of Appeal. Mr. Walton asked for the usual order for the wife's costs to include the whole of the trial. This his lordship granted, bub said that the respondenb could nob tax her husband in costs against her counter I charges. _________________