BRIDES BOUGHT AND SOLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13307, 13 October 1906, Page 2 (Supplement)

BRIDES BOUGHT AND SOLD.

'RICH - GIRLS. HAWKED ABOUT BY ' LADIES OF, TITLE. "t AMAZING MARRIAGE BROKERAGE • " REVELATIONS.' , _ The revelations in the Townshcnd case re- < garding the marquis' amazing ' marriage seem to have come as a surprise to judge and jury alike, says Mr. Labouchere, in 'Truth, and proceeds me, there _ was nothing particularly novel . about the "trans- ; action in,, which ; Lady Fawcett, ; together, '" ."with Meesrs. Dunn; Robins, and • Sutherst, 5 wrro the active parties, and the Marquis of -Town»heod the passive counter. I have beard of similar .instances before. The' methods adopted ,by the society mAtritnouial broker are usually characterised by : an- almost - brutal candour, and the signature of- a hard-and-fast agreement by the benefiting* party i« "an absolutely essential preface to an introduction. But the course •'"* of procedure, adopted can bo. bettor explained by a - concrete instance, including ' -. the original correspondence which passed . between 1 the parties, I have for some time f -had ill my possession. ,'This correspondence was handed to me in 1903. Ido not bco that any good purpose would be served C.by giving tho nam*s of the persons ongaged in the transaction. Let it suffice to say that too majority of them have much greater claims to be considered as members of Society—with a big "S"— Messrs. . Sutberst, Dunn, Robins, and Co. The mar- • riage broker in the case brought under my notice was of the reputably gentler sex, , who occupied a well-appointed house in -London, and who was a member of :;; A FASHIONABLE ladies' club. ~ She opened proceedings. by addressing the " r following letter to the younger son -of a peer, whom I will refer to as the Hon. ' "Mr. A.:— ■ V-v- «■ „ , . . " July 31, 1902.: , Sic, —This letter will be given or sent to you by- Captain R , who told me that you would be willing to remarry • provided the lady had sufficient fortune f •• to - tempt you. i happen to know of a . ' f very nice girl, well born, and in all points suitable. She has £3000 a year .of her • own, or rather the capital representing this income, and 'she would- be willing to give, .s ; her future husband '£10,0CG cash. I can -introduco you, but as > this is a strictly S'V business matter, would you be agreeable to pay £3000 out of this, £10,000 when you receive this sum on your wedding day— s»of course,* no money, no commission; ( -I .?**-should require you' to write to me a r let-' . ter :to that 'effect,- which letter 'would be -■ strictly private' cntre' nous'—and reS. turned to you ' when our transaction was ended. I trust this arrangement will be v l considered perfectly and "strictly contidential. Tho lady could' be introduced at my bouse by appointment, and must not know "" that, a commission wHI bo paid." \ ~! . The gentleman who received this astounding document; having• no personal,acquaint jl ance with the writer, "was at first disposed to treat it as a hoax. He was, however, , ; V. , acquainted with 'lie Captain R. mentioned : f i therein as- a fellow-member of a well- . -.known - club, and, learning from him that. ~ the letter, was written in good faith, .be, • determined to follow tho matter up, Ac- .' " eordinglv he kept an appointment, which . was made in a portion of tho letter which J. I have not reproduced, in. order to satisfy T his , curiosity, m The interview carried matters very little further, for tho broker proved,: impervious to any suggestion to ~? give any 1-, definite ; information until the Hon. Mr. A. bad signed an agreement on - the lines laid down in the . first ' letter. Some slight correspondence ensued, and . then the , Hon. Mr. A. received the fol"'lowing 'communication f . v -v V V . "August 7, 1902. . i" Dear- Mr. Thank you very much for your two kind letters, but one of them 'is not quit« businesslike enough. I there- ■■■■ ■•fore venture -to enclose a draft* I want you - kindly to copy and return to me. y6u sec- .. Tit is perfectly straight and businesslike— ; • —on both sides—' as > I have to give a ; business promising letter of half I get from " you," J of course you understand 'it must be as enclosed. lam •'. • LV COU3ir.N"I('ATtO.N* i WITH THE LAD? '■ ,-viand will report' as,: soon as can say and - ; make a definite appointment. ' I was-very > j-.'charmed to meet you, as I have often" heard ' ; J— speak of you, and I sincerely hope ; to carry - out our little arraugement and " also cement' our ? future ■ friendship.—Very < truly vo'urs, : ' - r ' s , " Thero.was no mistake about the business qualities of 'the ' draft agreement enclosed, even though it bears obvious ( marks' of feminine authorship. " The. reason given for requiring it is also noteworthy, since it shows that the broker had at least- one . . partner in. the transaction. It reads as lollows'- . "Dear Mrs. -— ,In the event of my «marrying -through.• jour introduction ■ and, my receiving on such marriage the sum : ... of £10,000 (ten thousand pounds) for myself, I agree to pay you out of that sum v as and when received the sum of three thousand pounds (£3000), by way of commission for such introduction leading to •/ marriage, but it must be clearly understood that the introduction is through you /; or your nominees, the lady in question is to nave a fortune of £53000 (three thou- .{ sand), a year in her own right, and to pay " me for myself ten thousand pounds, : the ->-•'IO,OOO to be. paid over to my solicitors, ~ Messrs. -——, in , the presence of your -'solicitor," and the sum of £3000 deducted, on the morning of .the marriage and handed, "• to you or your nominees. No marriage, no commission. All correspondence to be ' returned on both sides. (Signed) —7-." . ■Having carried the matter so far the " Hon Mr. A. thought there could be no harm in carrying it a step. or two farther, and accordingly executed ' the agreement and awaited th& introduction. That this was not made forthwith the' following letter will show : — . < , " September 8, . 1902.'.' " Dear Mr. A.,— have not forgotten vour business, and am constantly occupying myself about it. Nest week I trust to be able to tell you something definite. Unfortunately everyone is away—travelling and abroad. I want to get you settled first, then I want you to bring me Lord — (a well-known" peer.—Editor Ttuth), as I know a girl for him, £250,000 and < two properties of her own, ago 26, very pretty. SUe is the one I told vou about, and - •• ' . '. SHE REQUIRES A COHONET. . I am quite willing to give you a. share of the commission—'entr<; nous, strictly private ' —as it would never do for society to know of our arrangement. If you care ' to call let me -know; and come Sunday, 4; o'clock.—Very sincerely yours, . ,— — : j It will bo observed that this last epistle ~ marks another advance on the part of the marriage-broker. . Having, us she thought, 'secured the . Hon Mr. A. for- her list of r , eligible gentlemen, sho at once, proposes to enlist him as a tout for further -business, ; \ arid this suggestion is further enlarged upon in the next letter. Meanwhile, however, , the introduce n between the Hon. Mr. A. I I "and the lady who was prepared to,, pay ' £510,000. on -the' wedding day had taken place, and it will ; bo seen that the introducer betrays a good deal of anxiety to know how affairs arc '• progressing , ..... ... .'- ."October 4, 1902. ' "ftear M!r.' Ai,"-I' am I glad yon-are • pleased with the little' Widow. You must not bow let the.grass grow under your feet. The matter lies in your hands. Do f- 1 mind coifting to —*~r to-morrow. . . I hop# -you will hear from R-— to-mor-row. I am very anxious. I want you to be kind enough" to- write at once to Lord and tell bim you' know of a charming woman, richer than.your little widow ; even, for him. 'I want you to,bring' him - to my house ■as ' quick as possible, as I - have .;this . lady - almost handy, and want to make my arrangements with the mail. .She wants a peer. I will arrange. your commission when I see you. > Please see to this at once. I have kept my promise j and your, little lady comes up to your.. expectations, so now you must help me in this, please.—l remain, very sincerely vourn, --- -—| jllfK' W | H : ;

The interview ... so foreshadowed took place. The Hon. Mr. A. had professed I - himself satisfied with what had teen; done on his behalf, and, with a view of still further drawing This* society" marriage-broker bad hinted that be might be able to assist her in the direction she desired. Accordingly he received" from her the following general retainer- ' *" "Dear Mi-. A.,— herewith agree to pay you the third of any sum I receive as my share of commission for any marriage I arrange, provided you INTRODUCE THE WOCLp-DB BRIDEGROOM to me, and a marriage follows. ' Of course it- is understood that, no marriage, no com- • -mission; and mat the 1 gentleman is intro- ! duced by you to me first.*— truly yours,' - " ... .' -—•" ; '.i Having brought matters to this point the Hon. Mr. A. began to feel that -he had sufficiently satisfied bis curiosity, and, as he never'had the slightest desire to purchase a - wife under any circumstances, lie determined to let the whole matter drop. But before correspondence finally closed lie received one more letter, which is of a very interesting nature. In reading it, perjiapj I should explain that Mr. A. had drawn a little. his imagination in suggesting certain likely clients amongst his . ircquaintar/.es: — v, w . " October 25 z 1902. „ "Dear Mr. A.,—l saw J— yesterday, and he tells me, you are again laid up. I am indeed very sorry, and you arc a very unlucky man. This, I suppose, accounts for your non-reply to my two letters. I hope it is nothing serious, and not through . over-worry about vour financial affairs. I heard from Lady I*'. that the little widow answered your letter, aud said as soon as she was settled she would be glad to see you. She will really be glad, but at present I do not think she is back'in town yet. I. hope she wrote you a nice letter. What are you going to do? Is she going • to write again, or arc you going to take your chance of finding her as soon as you hear from Lady F. that she is in her fiat? Please let me 'know. . . "Also I hear from J that, your nephew is not arrived yet. Could you not write to Lord X——, asking him if lie 1 would like to marry, a rich, very rich wife, as the lady I know has more money than volir little widow, £8000 to £10,000 a year, but is a little older. If he says yes (and you told me you thought lie would jump at it), bring him round to me as soon as ever possible. - Please oblige mo in this, as the. lady will be in town very soon. With kind regards, yours very sincerely, Here, then, the correspondence ended. The Hon. Mr. A. had satisfied himself that the arrangement of marriages for a cash consideration had beeu the veal object for which he had been approached in the first instance, and that, so far as lie could discover, the party approaching him' had no ulterior purpose in view. He found,that tbo lady who acted as a negotiator was in touch'with a considerable number of presumably reputable people, and' ho saw no reason to doubt her ability, or the ability of '' - " . 1 . ; ; CERTAIN.: SHADOWY PERSONALITIES who were in partnership with her, to fulfil the promises she made.. Of course, only acceptance of the terms of the agreement would have shown whether the two ladies the "very, pretty" girl of 26, with £250,000 and two properties of her own, and .the rather older one with eight to ten thousand a year— any real existence. But, so far "as lie was concerned, negotiations proved the existence of the little widojv ' with £3000 a year, aud, as the basis of all negotiations wan clearly stated to be no marriage, no commission, it seems rather reasonable to suppose that these eligible heiresses were actually on the marriage market at the time. To my mind the most remarkable thing about the whole correspondence is the matter-of-fact way in which the proposals are made. Here we have ...a woman, presumably of birth and breeding, coolly approaching a stranger and, offering :to provide him with •:»•! wife in return for a cash consideration. So natural, an offer does it- appear to her that she does • not even mark " the . letter private, and she takes it as a matter of course that - the gentleman to whom she makes the offer' will jump at the opportunity afforded V him of making a wealthy •• match. In an equally matter-of-course fashion, she .later takes 'it for granted that, after providing himself with "- ; * ; A RICHLY-ENDOWED WIFE _. through : her agency, he will be only too glad to . turn ; broker himself and share in the commission accruing from further transactions.^;,Unlike .the victim in the Townshend case the counters in tho game, or tho matrimonial bargains, were ladies of fortune. Whether they, were aware that they were being hawked about amongst impecunious peers by members of West End clubs and ladies of title is not certain ; but I should think it unlikely. ,Still., the fact remains that such a course was being pursued in this instauce, and I have the best reason for knowng that this was not an isolated case. Tho utter disregard shown for any of the higher sensibilities, the absolute blindness to the fact that any ethical considerations are involved in the union of • a man and woman-by marriage, tho frank acceptance of the position that cash, and cash only, is the crucial consideration, shows a point of view almost; Oriental, in its cynicism.