WIFE PAWNED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20477, 1 December 1934, Page 33 (Supplement)

WIFE PAWNED.

HUSBAND HARD UP. SHE WON’T BE REDEEMED. SEQUEL TO UNHAPPY UNION. The English wife of a Frenchman, whose name cannot be divulged owing to the strictness of French divorce law on this point, is concerned in one of the most remarkable cases ever placed before acourt. According to the “dossier” of the t^ase,' Mary L , the woman concerned, was married to the husband whom she met while serving in France with one of the women’s units of the British Army, soou after the Armistice, but the marriage was not quite a success. Faced with business difficulties 14 years ago, the husband applied to a friend for financial aid, and added, “the only security I have is my English wife, who is not happy with me.” The other expressed his readiness to advance the amount asked for, On condition that the English wife left her husband and came as housekeeper to the financier. The offer was accepted, and the husband took no thought of his wife until a few weeks ago, when he offered to repay the money and take back his wife. Wanted a Divorce. He found that neither of the other parties wished to have the “pledge” redeemed, but, on the contrary', said they were so happy together that they only awaited a divorce decree to enable them to marry. The husband tried to insist on his rights,' but the lender fell back on the argument) that their deal was subject to the same laws as any other pawning transaction/ and that the right of redemption had) lapsed. The courts already ruled that as the husband voluntarily abandoned thej wife to the other man for a consideration,; he has forfeited any claims he might have as a husband, and must accept the con-t sequences. The only alternative open to him is to seek divorce from the woman, but it is by no means certain that the court will granthim a divorce, on account of the peculiar) circumstances attending the affair. Meanwhile,, the “pledge” and the “pawnbroker” in the case declare themselves quite satisfied with the course of events, and a counter-suit for divorce, on the ground of cruelty and abandonment, has been filed against the husband by the wife. The amount for which the wife was “pawmed” is stated in the pleadings to have been approximately £4OOO. and the husband offered this sum with the agreed interest at the same rate as the municipal pawnshops in Paris.