A STRANGE TRUE STORY.

New Zealand Times, Volume XLX, Issue 8164, 16 August 1887, Page 3

A STRANGE TRUE STORY.

THE LANG WORTHY CARRIAGE. (From the Pall Hall Pvdget.) (Continued.) And Mildred, believing his word that she - was really and truly mame | to himalthough for her own entire satisfaction and the allaying of all misgivings she was te have a second marriage by an English ministermerged her existence in and obeyed him in all things as_ a dutiful wife. The marriage was, iu her eyes, a religious . ceremony; the English marriage was but equivalent to the visit to the mame, which in France is required to complete a legal matrimonial contract. The visit to Cadiz was postponed for a time. The yacht went ■ cruising in the Channel, and anchored off Flushing. She, sometimes accompanied by her sister, and sometimes by a chaperon, was his constant companion. It was a time of unclouded joy. The months of October, November, and December, passed _ rapidly. Christmas found them again in Paris, where .he had her measured at Dumoret’s for a wedding-ring, the ring used at the Caen ceremony being thin and slight. He tenderly reproached his 4 tender-conscienced darling for her anxiety to have the English marriage. Isot in England,’ he said, ‘ but in,Belgium.’ _ But will that be legal ?' she inquired, doubtingly. ‘As legal as in England,’ he replied. ‘My ; friends the Bretts were married there, and are received in the best society in England. He was a barrister, and of course he anew best. So it was arranged' that they were to be married in the second week in January, 1883, in Antwerp. CHAPTER VIII. THE BELGIAN MARRIAGE. On January 10th Mr Langworthy and his bride drove to 20, Avenue Rubens, to the house of the Rev Dr Potts, an American Presbyterian minister, where he told her he had arranged that the ceremony should be performed. She asked, ‘Why are we not going to the church?’ ‘lt dies not matter,’ he replied; * it makes no difference.’ Dr Potts confirmed Mr Langworthy’s statements. He had married ; several couples, he said, there, both English and American. She was content. The Rev Dr Potts, an elderly divine, was duly ordained to the ministry cf the Presby- ■ terian Church of America. He was stationed at Antwerp from 1880 to 1884 as the representative of the New York Seamen’s Friendly Society and the London _ Sailors’ Friendly ■ Society, preaching at the British and American chapel, or, as it was commonly called, the Sailors’ Bethel. Be was a tall, gray-haired, kindly New Yorker; married, of course, and ready to marry any English-speaking couples who applied to him. When the first application was made to him to make two lovers man and wife he hesitated, and consulted a member of his Committee, He in turn consulted his lawyer, whose dictum was as follows ; Belgian law requires only a civil service, and leaves it to the option of the parties to choose their own religions service. Those not intend* ■ ing to reside in Belgium might choose their own -service; those intending to reside in Belgium must he married civilly. ■ From this the worthy pastor interred that he was legally authorised to marry any foreigners by the Presbyterian service as long as they were English-speaking people. Such was the gist ot the evidence which he gave afterward ' before the special examiner of the High Court of Justice on March 16, 1885, aud no one ever imputed to him any intention to act in other than good faith. But Mr Langworthy, a barrister-at-law, could not have been unaware • of the fact that in a country where no marriage contract is regarded as legal until ratified before the civil authorities, a merely religious ceremony, by whomsoever performed, was not legally valid. Mildred knew nothing of this._ She was to be married by an English service, that was ■enough. Mr Langworthy had told Dr Potts that he was not a member of the Church of England, that he disliked the publicity of a wedding party, that he preferred the Presbyterian service, and so, without more ado, he had promised to marry them. And when, on January 10, 1883, they arrived at 20, Avenue Rubens, everything was ready for the marriage ■ ceremony. ... Whatever may be thought of the ethics of i sexual relationship, there is one point thateven • the most cynical debauchee admits to be indefensible. To ruin a young life, to betray -tnaiden innocence, to triumph in the destruction of a woman’s honor—that, according to "the ethics of the man of the world, is but a venial offence. But when to seduction thereis -added hypocrisy, when the voluptuary lulls the of his victim to sleep by the sound i of prayers and holy words, and when the ■cruellest wrong which one human being can do to another is accomplished by fraud, cloaked 'beneath the form of religion, that is a crime for ■which even in the easy-going ethics of society there is neither palliation nor excuse. It was this crime of which Mr Edward Martin Langworthy was guilty at No. 20, Avenue Rubens, on January 10, 1883. , # ■ . The service began, according to the simplebut beautiful ritual of the Presbyterian Church, with a prayer to the God of all truth and all compassion to witness the vows of the man and woman who, kneeling before His footstool, came to register their vows and enter into this lifelong contract as in His very presence. After the prayer the officiating minister addressed to the couple before him. a little homily on the institution of marriage, its mutual relations, its solemn responsiblities. Than, turning to Mr Langworthy, he spoke as follows ;—lt is for you, the man, to remember that you will herein vow before God and men to bo the friend, counsellor, and protector ■ of her who is about to commit herself and her happiness to your keeping, and to cherish toward her a manly, generous and unchanging affection; for it is required in the . Word of God that husbands shall love their wives, even as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for it. .. And after addressing a similar exhortation to Mildred, he asked them both, ‘ Are you ■ prepared to make and you to witness these V °And both answered, his voice sounding clear and loud above hers — ‘I am.’ . Then, after another little homily, he joined their right hands, exclaiming, ‘We are ready ■to receive and witness your plighted faith.’ Turning to Mr Langworthy, he said—‘Do you, Edward, take Mildred, whom yon ■hold by. the hand, to be your wife; and do you covenant and promise in the presence of God and these witnesses that you will be to her a loving and faithful husband until death do separate you? This you promise ?’ And then Edward Martin Langworthy, in the presence of God and of the four or five witnesses, answered distinctly, in the hearing of all in the room; - T do,’ * What pledge,’: continued Dr Potts, do you give that you will perform these vows ?’ Mr Langworthy produced the wedding ring, the same that he bought at Dumoret’s iu Paris in Christmas week, and handed it to the minister. Then, turning to the bride, he said — •Do you, Mildred, take, him whom you hold by the baud to be your husband, and do promise and covenant, in the presence of God and before these witnesses, that you will be to him a loving and faithful wife until death do separate yon ? This you promise ?’ And Mildred answered. ‘I do.V ‘ And do yon receive this ring in token of the same on yonr part?’ he asked, placing it on her finger. Again she replied, ‘I do,’ After this solemn covenant the little party knelt in prayer. He began ‘Almighty God, who hath heard these vow in heaven, Thy dwelling-place ;' Bless this anion, we pray Thee, to the glory of Thy great and holy name.’ _ When the'Amen’had been uttered, Dr Potts performed the ceremony that in the Presbyterian service is known as Declaiming the Covenant ‘Now, therefore, in accordance with laws divine and human, and in consequence of these • solemn engagements made to each other and to God, 1 pronounce you husband and wife, in the tame of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Lord bless you and keep you. The LorJ make His face shine upon you, and be gracious nnto yon. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.’ One word niore, and all was over. Turning to the witnesses, he exclaimed; ‘Whom God bath joined together, let no unrighteousness of man put asunder.—Amen.’ The ceremony was over. Dr Potts entered in his private register book the following entry:— ‘Antwerp, January 10, 1883. ‘Edward Langworthy, England, widower, 35 years old. ■ ‘Mildred P.Long, Belfast, Ire., maiden, 27 years old. ‘ Marriage ceremony by the Rev Arthur Potts.’ Dr Potts drew up the following certificate

of marriage, signed by himself and the witnesses—his wife and Mrs Bailey—and handed It to the bride : [CERTIFICATE OP MARRIAGE ] _ ‘ 27, Avenue Rubens, Antwerp, Belgium, ‘January 10, 1883. •This is to certify that Kd vard Langworthy. of England, and Miss Mildred P. Long, of Belfast, Ire., were joined in marriage by me this day. _ * Arthur Potts, ' • Chaplain of British and American Chapel. ' Witnesses—Mrs Author Potts, Mrs E. C. Bailet.’ . He then told her his name and address, in case any question should arise about the marriage, and, bidding him good-bye, Mr and Mrs Langworthy drove away. T As they entered the carriage, _Mt Langworthy took possession of the marriage certificate, and claspirg his bride’s hand, he said , Is my darling satisfied now, and happy. "-i e laughed merrily as she replied she was. It is worth any sacrifice, he said, to see my darling, my wife, smile brightly again. He made her swear that for a whole year she would not disclose the marriage. He feared he might be disinherited if it were known. She asked him for th certificate of marriage, which he was twisting in his fingers. No, he replied, I am going to give it to my solicitors for greater safety. But, she argued, won’t that disclose our marriage? No, he said ; I will put it in an envelope and mark it * Private and important.’ They drove to the train. At the buffet there was no refreshment, only one bottle of sour claret —a sorry wedding breakfast, but one which in after-time seemed a significant symbol of her married life. CHAPTER IX. A BRIEF HONEYMOON. Aftpr the ceremony in the Avenue Bubens, Mr and Mrs Langworthy went to Brussels, from which next day (January 11) he went to London and she to Paris. The next day he wrote her the following letter : ‘ United University Club, ‘Pall Mall East, S.W., ‘ 12th J anuary, 1883. *My dearest wife, —I got your dear letter today. I did not write yesterday, as I was too late for the post-office after seeing Graignon, or whatever her name is. She won’t come, and would not do if she would. ‘ She does not look respectable. I will see about the other one this afternoon, ‘ In awful haste, ‘ Ever your loving Bear. 'P.S.—I cannot possibly come before the middle of the week. ‘ I have paid Redfern by this post,’ The letter to Redfern was as follows ‘ Please send the things Mrs Langworthy ordered to the Hotel Choiseul, Rue bt. Honors I enclose a cheque—Lß 14s 4d, francs 218. 1 have dealt with you at Cowes some years ago. I own the Meteor.—l am, yours truly, E. M. Langworthy.’ . She rejoined him in London the_ next day. Everything was got ready for the journey to South America. , . ~ . . . Edith Long, a school girl, joined her sister at Mr Langworthy’s request, and a cousin of his, a young man of twenty-five, joined the party. Her brother Herbert came to see her in Paris, and took a violent dislike to Mr Langworthy. He had heard the story of his first marriage, and he made no secret of his distrust. Mildred was his favorite sister, and he begged Edith never to leave her lest anything should befall her. Her mother also was suspicious and resentful, She did not like the secret marriage, and she also made Edith promise she would never leave Mrs Langworthy abroad. These forebodings were resented by tha_ lady most concerned, who was infatuated with her husband. He seemed equally engrossed.-with the charms of his wife—so much so, indeed, as to be quite oblivious of the proprieties. At the Hotel Braganza, at Lisbon, he used to go about the corridors bawling ‘Millie! Millie I Where’s Millie ? ’ This led to a scene one day. A sedate and dignified English lady having sent the page-boy for the Times, the company, which included Lord Mayo, Lady Ashtown, and others, was intensely amused by hearing the youngster exclaim that the Times was engaged, for Millie’s husband had got it.

CHAPTER X. MEPHISTOPHELB3 ON THE YACHT. It was at Lisbon where they made their first call, and there they remained four or five weeks. At Lisbon Mr Langworthy had introduced her as his wife to Lady Ashdown and her brother-in-law. Colonel Gasooigre. At Santa Cruz, Lord Francis Cecil dined on board their yacht. At Pernambuco,' Mrs Langworthy was introduced as his wife to several visitors. It was during the stay at Portugal, at the end of February, that Mrs Langworthy first knew beyond doubt that she was likely to become a mother. When he first heard of it, he remained a couple of hours without speaking, biting his nails the,while. At last, starting up, he exclaimed, We’ll put the little beast out to nurse. Mr Langworthy’s cousin, who. was on board the yacht and to whose exploits as a cat torturer at Lisbon we have already alluded, exerted himself to breed quarrels between the husband and wife; Mrs Langworthy resented his malicious , insinuations against her husband, and he repaid her for this by exerting all his influence to prejudice the husband against the wife. Mr Langworthy, a man of weak and inconstant character, was fairly 'proof against his cousin’s insinuations when his wife was by his side. But when she was ill and confined to her cabin, the cousin had everything his own way, Mr LangwortHy’s alarm at the prospect of rival of a child, which would render it difficult for him to conceal his clandestine marriage, had been partially allayed by the reflection that it might not live, and that if it did it could be ‘ putout.’ But his fears, once raised, were never permanently allayed. In the presence of his wife, to whom he really seemed passionately attached, his misgivings melted. But when ill-health compelled her to absent herself from his aide, the cousin gained complete ascendancy over him. Your mother, he would, say, would disinherit you if she hears of it. Yon will be ruined by this caprice of yours. The fear of his mother haunted Mr Langworthy, -and tba thought of losing her money drove him almost crazy. According to the statements made on oath by Mrs Langworthy and her sister, everything done that a malignant ingenuity could devise in'the way of alternate starving and feeding on unwholesome food to produce violent sickness and extreme exhaustion. It was a terrible time. On one occasion he kept her without food for twenty-seven hours, and then gave her Liebig’s extract in Angostura bitters. Once the maid he had provided for her said contemptuously, ‘I don’t know what you’re made of, Madame.’ That would have settled the business in any three other women. At the time when she was confined toiler cabin, half unconscious with 'morphia, which he administered to her, dosed with mercury, and, crying from hunger, her maid produced a cup of tea from a water jug, aud some biscuits from her pockets, saying, ‘ There ; I shall soon be a devil if I stay here much longer.’ This, however, was in the last stages of the voyage. At Bahia the Consul took charge of her for three days, and in that short time she picked up amazingly. This attention Mr Langworthy resented. He had refused his wife eau-de-cologne; with which she had cooled her fevered face. She wasted it, he said. The Consul gave her some, and was dubbed 'a meddling old fool ’ for his pains. It was not, however, until the yacht called at St. Catherina that his conduct lost all trace of humanity. Mrs Langworthy consulted the English Consul’s wise concerning her health. When Mr Langworthy :heard of it, he exclaimed, Good God! you’ve ruined mo I You shalLnever go ashore again. He was as good as his word. After this time he treated her brutally—so brutally, indeed, that it is difficult to account on any other hypothesis than that of a desire to rid himself of an incumbrance by driving her insane, if not of actually ending her life. It was on April 26 that he quarrelled with her at St. Catherina. The crisis came a few days later. CHAPTER XL A MIDNIGHT SCENE ON BOARD THE METEOR. It was one of the first days in May that Mrs Langworthy—weak, fevered, maddened with the brutality with which she was treated—determined to have an explanation and understand what it all meant. It was a dark, wet night; the Meteor was ploughing its way through: the waves; the rain was falling heaviiy. All was silent on board. Everyone, save the men on watch, bad turned in, when she left her cabin and slipped down to the saloon where her husband was sleeping on the sofa. His wife knelt down by __ his side and timidly woke him with the question, Edward, tell me why have you so changed ? He started. His wife flung her arras round his neck. Oh, Edward! she sobbed. Ho seized her wrists and wrenched himself free, and flung her away. You’ve ruined me ! he cried. His wife, in a frenzy, rushed up the stairs out of the saloon upon the deck. It was 11 o'clock ; the rain was falling in torrents; but she did riot heed it. Her brain was on fire ; her heart was as cold as death. If I could but die, she moaned. She was thinly clad in a lownecked black-net evening dress. The rain soaked her through and through, but she sat in

silent agony hour after hour, while the low stars, faintly visible through the clouds, crawled across the pitiless sky, and at last faded out of sight in the dawning day. During that sickening vigil in the darkness and the pouring rain, she saw only one thing clearly. She must sea her husband again and learn her fate. Next morning she upbraided him with his conduct. You do not know how to treat a wife, aha said bitterly. Wife! said he, contemptuously. You know the position you hold , A cold chill of terror passed over her, but she suppressed it by a strong effort of will. Yes, I am your wife, she said firmly. He laughed as he replied ; Did you believe in that marriage ? It was only an empty form. I would have gone through no other with you. But the certificate ? Not worth the paper it was written on. Tne clergyman was all a sham. The chill of terror had seen succeeded by a flush of passion. Without thinking for a moment what she was about, she snatched off her wedding ring and her guard and flung them at the man who stood gloating over her dismay. If I am not your wife, she cried, I have no right to these ! and she flung them at her betrayer in a frenzy, and then swooned away. When she came to her senses, Mr Langworthy had gone. Her sister Edith had met him hurriedly leaving her room. The maid and the doctor were summoned, and at last she recovered sufficiently to take some food. Her sister then discovered that her rings were gone, and was naturally very angry. Mr Langworthy, however, oddly enough, restored them without demur. He had taken pains to remove all the evidence of the marriage before the final scene. He had taken the other rings that he had given her, the visiting cards, her letters, and her jewels—everything, in short, that could prove the marriage which he had determined to disavow. He had even taken away the purse of his wife’s sister, lest she should frank any of her letters home. Edith he determined to.send home alone. Mrs Langworthy" he proposed to place in lodgings in Buenos Ayres, where the doctor told her frankly she was sure to die. Next day there was another scene. ‘ Edward,’ said the forlorn and desperate woman, ‘ will you swear that marriage was not legal ? ’ ‘ Why do you ask? ’ ‘ Because,’ she faltered, bursting into an agony of tears, ‘you know I would die before I would have an illegitimate child.’ He left her, and gave orders that she must leave the yacht. CHAPTER XII. FLUNG OFF. Mr Langworthy was drinking heavily. , His cousin had gained complete ascendancy over him, but it needed the alcohol to keep him up to the prescribed course of ruthless brptality. When he told his wife to leave the yacht, she asked him to get her some baby clothes. ‘ You will want none,’ he replied. But when the doctor said it was necessary for them to be ready, and that in any case the voyage would be very dangerous, he said he would get some. On the morning of her departure, the 7th of May, she tried once more to change his resolution, He was as hard as flint. He said, ‘ You leave this day. If you tell anyone about me yon shall starve ! If you tell anyone, I will blacken your character and leave you to starve.’ He left her room, and called Edith to the saloon. His face was white and his hands trembled as he faced the indignant girl and began to repeat the well-rehearsed lie. ‘ I think it is right to tell you that Milly is not my wife. I simply let her have my name as a matter of form. The letter you have seen from me calling her my wife had no meaning; it was only- a tenu. I never went through a form of marriage with her.’ She tried to leave the room. He held the door. He continued: ‘Don’t repeat anything I have said to poor dear Milly, who is too ill to bear any agitation. If you will say nothing, I will always be good to you for her sake. If yon will say nothing, I will say nothing, and no ope will know any thing about thematter,’ What Edith said is not recorded. But whatever it was, it made his ears tingle and his lips blanch. But though he writhed beneath the hot words of his victim’s sister, he did not relent. At il they were placed on board the gig and rowed five miles to the tender, for they had arrived at Buenos Ayres, Although she was never suffered to land, Mrs Langworthy had nothing on but a tropical dress, and she was deadly sick and faint. Mr Langworthy met her at the tender. He gave her tickets made out in a false name, a sum ©f 1.50, a box of baby clothes, and a letter. He then went ashore, leaving the sisters to wait five hours on board the tender. In the evening they were taken eleven miles down the river to the ship that was to take them to Europe. Here another surprise awaited them. Instead of the royal mail steamer to Southampton, it was a dirty, miserable French ship, which had lost its deckhouse in the last voyage, and was still undergoing repairs. There was no doctor or stewardess on board. The agent of the ship declared that if he had known that Mr Langworthy wanted tickets for ladies, he would not have let him have berths, _ He declared that Mrs Langworthy was too ill to go home in that ship, and urged her to go back to the yacht, and next day she could be taken on board a better . ship of the same company’s fleet, Mrs Langworthy, who had fainted on being taken on board, dared not return. She wrote a letter, however, at the agent’s suggestion, imploring him to take her back, as the voyage, in her then state of health, would probably prove fatal. To that letter no answer was returned, and the ship sailed, bringing the deserted wife back to Europe. It was a squalid doghole of a cabin where they found themselves, but they were far better • off than on board Mr Lang worthy’s floating palace. For the captain was a humane man. He nursed Mrs Langworthy with the tenderness of a woman, and on the sixth day she had recovered sufficiently to leave her berth. She crept to her box, where Mr Langworthy had told her she would find the baby clothes for her child—and his. She opened it. All thatwas inside was ten yards of coarse white calico and six yards of red flannel. When she saw that, for the first time her love for her husband wavered and fled. As she simply says, ’Then I hated Mr Langworthy.’ CHAPTER XIII. AMONG THE LAWYERS OP LONDON. Thus far have we traced the career of the unfortunate Mrs Langworthy—unfortunate chiefly in being Mrs Langworthy—and yet, though twice married, denied the title of a wife. Hitherto all that has'befallen her his occurred in the struggle of a brave and beautiful but imprudent woman single-handed, against a wealthy, powerful, and unscrupulous man. We have now to see the battle transferred to another arena, in which the combatants no longer engage in hand-to-hand encounters, hut •where the combat is waged by legal champions in courts of justice. ‘ The_ first part of this romance, real though realistic, was full of that tragic pathos which is ever absent where fraud and cruelty are employed to secure the sacrifice of a woman’s honor to a, man’s caprices ; the second pait will not less excite emotions 01 disgust and indignation at a not less shameless spectacle. . Thirty-three - days after leaving. Buenos, Ayres Mrs Langworthy and her sister Editi, arrived at Havre. It had been a terrible tin.*, for both the sisters. Night after night Mu ‘Langworthy sobbed herself to sleep, to wak. time after time in the midst of hideous dreams to be confronted once more by a reality worse than nightmare. Sometimes her sister feared that her reason would fail under the strain. What a home-coming it was ! what a tragic end to the bright •: hopes which had tempted her across the sea ! But. notwithstanding all the wearing sorrow, the kindness of the French captain and , the tender nursing of her sister brought her back from the verge of the grave. The voyage had one great compensation. During that month at sea, she had had time to reflect, and she decided on her coarse. Inexperienced in affairs, she knew nothing of law ; but she had once before met Mr George Lewis, of the famous firm—probably the most famous firm—of solicitors in the whole world to-day. Mr Langworthy had been his client, and although he was wont to speak with characteristic and vulgar insolence of his lawyer’s race, his wife knew that, Gentile or Jew, there was no man like Mr Lewis to whom to turn for advice when in sore straits. They had consulted him about some petty dispute, and she instinctively turned to him agsin. Nor was she peculiar in this respect. Few clients, and probably no women, who have ever consulted Mr Lie wls have not felt the attraction of his intellect, the singular charm of his character. This man, who professionally knows all wickedness, seems to have preserved in many respects the heart of a child. It is ope of the moat striking of contemporary paradoxes that the shrewdest and most experienced lawyer who ever practised at the Old Bailey or in the Divorce Court should have a face which, bat for the absence of meditative tranquillity, resembles the picture of a saint. Satan’s invisible world, bo far as it exists in the secret places ot this great Babylon, is all unveiled before these quick, piercing eyes, which see everything from

the secret intrigue of the palace to tbo obscene orgies of our pothouse Sodoms; but he is neither sour nor cynical. A frank, sympathetic, cheery soul; his office in Ely Place is surrounded by bright and pleasant associations to many a hard-pressed men and despairing woman, and thither, therefore, it is no wonder Mrs Langworthy turned her steps as soon as she arrived. She did not know what to do or where to turn. Therefore she went to Mr Lewis. She bad no idea of going to law. She only wanted counsel and guidance in her sore distress. Mr Lewis received her courteously, and listened with his invariable sympathy as she rapidly rehearsed her adventures. But Mr Langworthy was Mr Lewis’s client. He could only speak to her kindly, and express bis sorrow, and hope her trouble would soon be over. He was very sorry, he said, to hear so sad a tale, but he could do nothing. Leaving Ely Place, Mrs Langworthy sought out another lawyer, and some good genius guided her steps to Conduit-street, to the offices of Messrs Lumley and Lumley. Mr Kobert Lumley received her kindly. She was within a few weeks of her confinement. Her wan and wasted features told only too plainly the trouble through which she had passed. Mr Robert Lumley was a man with a warm heart and kindly soul. He advised her on no account to go to Frankfort, but to begin proceedings at once'for restitution of conjugal rights. He wrote to Antwerp to Dr Potts ior a copy of the marriage certificate. It came by return of post. On the 4th of July, 1883, he took the first step in a litigation, which is going on to this day. by fi ing a petition to the President of the Divorce Court, praying for restitution of conjugal rights. , Six days later he wrote in the name cf his client to Mr Langworthy, demanding cohabitation and restitution of conjugal rights. The letter was addressed to Edward Langworthy, Esq, Steam Yacht Meteor, care of H.B.M. Consul, Buenos Ayres. A month later a similar letter was posted to him at Geys House, Holyport, Maidenhead, the residence of his mother. To neither of these letters did he deign to make any reply. Meanwhile, Mrs Langworthy returned to Ireland, to await in her father’s house the birth of her baby. The extreme nervous exhaustion produced by the trying circumstances through which she had been passing, the anxiety attending the future, and the physical weakness caused by the unnatural treatment of which she had been subjected by her husband, placed her life in jeopardy. Fortunately, she xallied, and after a time she was able to rejoice in the presence of a dear little baby girl. For months she had dreamed that when it came, the child would link again the broken links of affection between her and her husband, and now even, after all his cruelty, the woman’s heart y earned after reconciliation with the only man she had ever loved. She was several weeks in recovering, but as soon as she could use a pen, she wrote to her husband and to her mother-in-law, informing them of the birth of the child. No answer was ever returned by Mr Langworthy. The only response from Maidenhead was the return of her last letter unopened ; it contained the certificate of the baptism of the granddaughter, who had been named Elizabeth, after Mr Langworthy’s mother. The letter was enclosed in an envelope addressed, Miss Mildred Long, with a note from Messrs Bircham and Co., desiring that no further letters should be addressed by her to Mrs Langworthy, at Geys House, Maidenhead. CHAPTER XIV. ADDING INSULT TO BRUTALITY, Mr Langworthy had’ not instructed Mr Lewis to take any action on his behalf. The family solicitors of the Langworthys were Messrs Bircham and Co., of 46, Parliamentstreet. Among the solicitors of London this old-established firm has long been regarded as one of the chief. Messrs Bircham, ‘a most respectable firm, most respectable,’ was the common remark in legal circles, and this reputation was of old standing. When Messrs Lumley and Lumley began proceedings on behalf of Mrs Langworthy, jun.,they were at first only concerned as the solicitors of Mrs Langworthy. sen., and their earlier communications call for no particular remark. They refused to forward Mrs Langworthy’s letters to her husband, and they greatly excited the ire of the family in Ireland by addressing the daughter-in-law of their client as Miss Long. While this fencing was going on between Mrs Langworthy and Messrs Bircham, Mr Edward Langworthy had received in South America the demand for the restitution of conjugal rights. His method of reply was characteristic. He sat down and wrote the following letter, which is useful as a gauge of the character of this English ‘ gentleman ’: — ‘ Bella Vista, August 24th, 1883. ‘As you have distinctly disobeyed my instructions, under which alone I promised to make you an allowance of £240 a-year, from this day forth I abandon you utterly. Should you have a child, as I should be sorry it should ever assist you in maintaining your family by prostitution, I will pay for its education by respectable people, and Mr S is authorised by me to carry out my wishes in that respect. As I gather from a letter I have received from Buenos Ayres that you have employed a solicitor to commence proceedings against me for seduction, and that he is anxious to obtain my address, yon may inform him that I am domiciled in Paraguay, and that my lawyer, Dr Jose Maria Rosa, who is both judge and ADVOCATE, WILL SPEEDILY DISPOSE OF ANY CASE he may bring into Court.—l am, yours, &C., E. M. Langworthy. ‘ Was Mildred Long. ‘ P.S.—This letter is enclosed to Mr S This precious epistle was never sent to Mrs Langworthy. ‘lt was written to prejudice her case, and entrusted to the safe keeping of Messrs Bircham, who soon after received instructions to act on his behalf, Messrs Lewis and Lewis fortunately being relieved from the unpleasant task of screening Mr Langworthy. It was only by accident Mrs Langworthy saw this letter at Bircham’s office in November, 1884. What were the Instructions to which he referred? They were those contained in the letter which he wrote on May 6, 1883, when he ordered her to go to Frankfort. To that order she had replied in despair, begging rather to be sent to England, as otherwise she would be tempted to make away with herself—an appeal to which he returned no answer, merely treasuring up her letter as evidence against her in the litigation which he foresaw might ensue. It may, however, be worth while seeing on what terms Edward Langworthy thought it right and proper to cast off the lady whom he had vowed in the presence of Almighty God to cherish until death . ‘ Buenos Ayres, May 6, 1833, ‘ My dear Milly, l — Europe [a wish she had never expressed] and live near Frankfort-on-the-Maine [a place she had never named], I have arranged that the sum of £2O shall be placed to your credit on the first of'every month with Messrs Koch, Lanterin and Co, bankers, Frankfort, commencing on Ist July next. This amount must cover all your expenses, and I will not pay any debts you may contract. These monthly payments will only be continued so long as you reside and continually remain within fifty miles of Frankfort, that you do not in any manner use my name, and neither my friends nor myself are in any way referred to with regard to our connection, either by yourself or by anyone else. . . • j give yen with this letter I*so in- addition to the passages of yourself and your sister to Havre, in order that yon may find your way to Frankfort, and have ample means till will come arid see yon at Frankfort immediately on my return to Europe, and when you are settled at Frankfort please write to me at the Hotel Choiseul, Rue St. Honore, Paris. ' ... ‘I will call for yonr letter on my nay through Paris. _ . . , ... • Believe me, yours affectionately (!) ‘ E. M. Langworthy. ‘ P.S.—Your monthly allowance, commencing on the Ist July, wifi, of course, he paid to your credit at Messrs Koch, Lanterin and Go's in the name of Miss Mildred P. L. Long. Unless yon abide rigidly by these conditions, the allowance will be stopped and never renewed.’ . The arbitrary power to intern a political prisoner in a foreign land was never more despotically exercised than this fellow endeavors to exercise it in the case of his wife, ft is sorry reading, the correspondence of Edward Lanrworthy. Its only redeeming feature is the lurking sense which it shows that the creature had that rudimentary sense of virtue which made him feel that his own conduct was too mean and base to bear exposure to any eyes but his own. (To be continued.)