"SPIRITED AWAY."

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13187, 26 May 1906, Page 2 (Supplement)

"SPIRITED AWAY."

LADY'S LOVE LETTERS TO A COACHMAN. Mr; Aldkrt Edward Smith petitioned for restitution of conjugal rights against his wife, Mrs. Edith Emily Smith, nee Kaye, who ■was described is of Leicester, The wife alleged that her husband had been «uilty of cruelty and misconduct with a servant girl named Hannah Smith at Hen-don-street,; Leicester. The respondent, who belonged to a wellknown Leicester y family, ;.-< secretly - married her brother's coachman,- and two days after the wedding the : bride was " spirited away" by her relatives. There followed a lawsuit at Leicester Assizes, in ..which Mr. Smith brought an action against his wife's brother and brother-in-law for unlawfully enticing away his wife and inducing her to stop away from him. : The respondent, a lady, with private means, used to be driven out by Smith, and he taught her to ride. An, attachment sprang up between them, culminating in the secret marriage. The Leicester jury awarded Smith £500 damages. :

When the : restitution . case was called on some discussion took place as to which side should begin, and eventually Mr. Grazebrook, on behalf of. the .;■ respondent, opened his case, after which he called medical evidence. Testimony was also adduced that Mr. Smith visited a woman who passed, as " Hannah Smith," who had a. child, and that she passed as his sister and also as his cousin. . •

At the close of the respondent's case Mr. Barnard opened for the petitioner, who;he said, .was the : son of a farmer and formerly kept u hotel at Burton-on-Trent. At the outbreak of the war the petitioner went to South Africa, and when he returned , to England he went into the service of Mr. Kaye as coachman. . He made the acquaintance of Miss Kaye and became on affectionate terms with "her. They were secretly married on May 6, ; 1903. Prior to that she wrote him a number of affectionate .letters.

'A; letter, December 18, ran :—" Don't, don't let me go. I should never get over it. - Hold fast to me if I; am worth it. At present there ie a war going on between my head and my heart, but I know which will win— won't be my head; it couldn't. Please do not write to me."

Another ran: —"l trust to heaven that this letter reaches its ; desinatioh safely. If I could have given it into your own hands myself I would have done. ' You have discovered you have made a mistake, haven't you? "You would: rather throw the whole affair up than run. the risk of anything coming out. In other words, you wish yourself out of it. You think the game is not Worth the candle. . •

" You feel in rathei a fix. Is , not that so? Well, lam going to set it right. I am writing to tell. you that it is all right that -you,; are perfectly free. I would rather die, and die gladly, '.than that I should be the cause of bringing harm to you. I may tell you that my feelings towards you will never , change . until my dying day, and even then the feelings which I have for you will pass on with me to the next world. , ;'./: - - v

"Love comes but once. I once mistook passion for it. It is a blessing that nothing came of it. I would have said good-bye to everybody and everything. That is what it would mean; but it may be as well as it is ; you would have been disappointed with me,',l heed not say that 1 shall not breathe to a living soul;■ that which has been between us. You may think me unmaidenly and over-bold in telling you what I have done. I I don't know." ."-.;.

; On April 17 she wrote:— what do you think of going abroad? We did not discuss that from a practical point of view. How would it be to go to America? It suddenly, came to me last night. I should* prefer to go abroad. I, don't know if youi inclinations; are the same. . . . You will see that marriage by barms would not do, but I should think by license would be all Eight, wouldn't it? ; '^;' ; : "■-'■■ ;- -'..■"' J r~ '■■'■■■ V "In that J case dt: seems that the sooner you* get the 15 days over the better. As soon as we are able to decide it is to. take place for sure. I'll tell you how I should have liked to have been married. I guess you know before I tell you, , I should have loved to have. ridden on horseback to be married.;. I wish it could be somehow." . , . Another letter, dated April 26, commenced :— "■ Dearest,— landed here yesterday. We expect to stay here till Monday, when my sister may go into Yorkshire. .. I don't like the thoughts of eloping. ; If anything had come about I could have faced it, and then done it. I should have felt different." April 28 another letter ran, suggesting that the writer should meet the .petitioner " half-way" between the place -' mentioned and Bolton, stating that it would be all right on Thursday morning" {the day of the marriage). On May 3 there. was another letter — "Dearest,— purpose coming :to you by the same train on Wednesday. ... I shall; be thankful when Wednesday comes. It is my wish that no one should he present but the necessary people, and that it shall be done as quickly. and, quietly as possible. Then there is breaking it to my father and mother. I feel I ought to do that in person. That; should be done the first thing. I leave all this till I see you.— Yours always." ' The day before the marriage there was a letter: —"I expect to arrive at twenty-two minutes to eleven as arranged. Please remember me very kindly to your sister, and tell her to wear whatever she likes. It does not matter a bit. I have been busy packing. Good-bye until to-morrow.— ¥ours always." ' ' ? [ Mr. Barnard went on to say that all Mr. Smith wanted was to see his wife. Mr. Grazebrook said what the 'husband

wanted was money. Mr. Barnard: We will see. Sir George Barnes asked the age: of the lady when she was married, and, being told.that she was 26 years of age, said that she ought to have been old enough to know her own mind. Mr. Grazebrook: She says now. she does not want to see her husband, and that it was a mad infatuation on her part. ; Mr. Barnard: We deny that. We say that the husband loves his wife and desires to see her. If she does not wish to return to him, and tells him so, he will drop the matter altogether. ■ " In answer to Sir George Barnes, Mr. Barnard said that the father of the lady was a retired chemist. ~. SMITH IN THE BOX. .".-.„ ■ ','' .' The hearing was concluded on the following Monday. , ;, Smith went into the witness-box and said he had to go into the world to earn his living ' owing to his father, who . was a farmer and hotel-keeper, having lost most of his property by fire. After seeing some service in South' Africa he returned to England and took a situation with Mr. Robert Walter Kayo (his wife's brother) as groom and coachman. Miss Kaye came to *>tay with her brother, and witness' was a good deal in her company. One day she told him she loved him, and as he was very fond of her he proposed marriage. She was then 26 years of age, and he was 24. Having given evidence of the elopement and marriage he sand nothing had occurred to mar their happiness up to the time that his wife was forcibly taken away from him. He brought an action against his • wife's brother and brother-in-law for the adbuction, and the £500 which was awarded him had been paid. ; The President (to Mr. Grazebrook) : Why don't you produce the lady and hear what she has to say on her own behalf? Mr. Grazebrook : I have seen tEe lady myself. I saw her with her father and also alone. I was with her for'lo minutes or a-quarter of an hour, and it is upon her instructions that I am here, and I am not merely for the gratification of my learned friend (Mr. Barnard, K.C.) going to put the lady in the box when she knows nothing whatever about the . charge of adultery. '■',:'■ ' ' , , The Petitioner: My Lord, they have tried to bring her in -as - insane. Why should she not be brought here .to speak for herself? I believe to this present day she is fast somewhere. >' The President (to Mr. Grazebrook): Your client, is taking an absolutely unwarrantable action. •'■-; - r -' '■'■ • < # ;- ; , . Mr.' Grazebrook -Not my client. Neither 4he brother nor the brother-in-law has any-

thing to do with this case. The lady Las been with her father and could have, been found. j

Why did the father 'not hand her over to" the husband?— Because she won't go. That is very inconsistent with her letters. —I told your lordship before'that"lt was a silly infatuation on behalf of this woman.; I ilave seen her and she will not go back to this man under any circumstances. You " know : very well '■" pressure'v was put upon her. and she was taken away.— is .'another, matter, and has nothing to do with this case. ' The President It has a good deal to do '.with it. " ■■:■■]'-•■. • * Mr.'Grazebrooksaid that a wire had been received, that morning stating that Mrs. Smith was too unwell to attend. ■ ■ The President; They are simply struggling to get her out of. a foolish marriage that »he was old enough to enter into. »/;. Petitioner, in further examination, said that for the purposes of this suit he had to apply for an order for "substituted'service of the petition, not knowing where to find his wife. ; The President; That shows that the woman is being kept back. It is perfectly clear, and it is a monstrous case. In cross-examination, witness said he was not there to ■ get' money, adding : "I want my wife. The world is void for me if I don't get her. back again." , ■ The President, in giving his decision, said that the letters of the wife showed that she had great affection for the petitioner, ; and' had herself taken steps to bring about the marriage. Referring to the abduction, he said that a more unwarrantable proceeding one could not imagine. He was of opinion that the charge of misconduct against the. petitioner was quite unfounded. He therefore granted the husband a decree for restitution of conjugal fights to be complied with within 14 days. On evidence that the wife had. a separate estate she was condemned in the costs of the suit.