BETRAYED BY BROTHER OFFICER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14375, 21 May 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

BETRAYED BY BROTHER OFFICER.

MATRIMONIAL RUPTURE AND THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR. Brother officers figured as petitioner and co-respondent in the Divorce Court. Colonel Arlington Augustus Chichester, of the Dorset Regiment, being granted a decree nisi on account of the misconduct of his wife, Eva Isabel Maud, with Captain Caryl Richard Molyneaux, late of the 10th Hussars. The suit was undefended. The marriage took place in 1891 at St. Jude's, Portsca, and Colonel and Mrs. Chichester lived happily for eight years in Ireland, Malta, and India, '.there was one child. Then, in 1899, Colonel Chichester was ordered out to the South African war with his regiment. Mrs. Chichester also went to South Africa, staying at Capetown. When her husband visited her there from the front he was surprised, said Mr. Harvey Murphy, to notice thai his wile was very cool in her , manner towards him. Alter the war Colonel Chichester went on to Hongkong,' where he knew his wife was in communication with the corespondent"a very old friend.',' There was nothing, however, in the letters beyond ordinaryi friendship, and nothing was suspected. In June, 1908, Mrs. Chichester told her husband that as they did not get on well together she thought they had better live apart, and, despite all protests, insisted on returning home. In September last Colonel Chichester was surprised to receive letters from both his wife and 'the co-respondent. Mrs. Chichester's letter was addressed from Burford Bridge Hotel, Box Hill, and was dated August 15, 1909:— "Dear Arte, During my long journey home I thought over our married life, and I see what a hopeless failure it has all been. "It is quite useless for us to attempt to live together, and in these circumstances 1 have determined to strike out for myself and take a course which will bring happiness to me. "1 am staying here under the name of and with Captain Molyneaux. We have been here nearly a week sharing a room. We have known each other for many years, and he has promised, to marry me directly 1 am free, which I hope will be soon. . "As we have now compromised your good name beyond redemption, neither of us will oppose any proceedings on your part, I may as well tell you that Captain Molyneaux is a very poor man and dependent on his pay, but we are determined not to be separated." The letter from the co-respondent, which arrived by the same mail, also contained a confession, and ran:— " J have loved your wife for many years, and I will devote my life to making her happy. I know she loves and trusts me, and she has told me everything of her past; so now we have taken this irrevocable step. She is now far from well, and her present position weighs heavily upon her, making her anxious for a speedy solution of her difficulties. I shall offer no defence to your action." s Colonel Chichester told his story in the witness-box, and evidence was given of the visit of Mrs. Chichester and the corespondent to the Burford Bridge Hotel.