The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-13 00:00:00

SING ULAR DIVORCE CASE IN MGR

LIFE.

(From the ,Shelield Daily Telegraph.)

A divorce case, which may interest many of our
readers, owing to the high social position of the
petitioner and the respondent, who are members of
the aristocracy, and:the co-respondent having held
the responsible position of representative to one of
the largest firms in this town, will come under the
notice of Sir Cresswell Cresswell at the latter part
of the present month.
'the petitioner in the pending case is the most
noble the Marquis of W---, the last male repre-
sentative of an ancient Irish peerage, who had at-
tained the ripe and mature age of threescore and
ten before he entertained any serit. us thought of
perpetuating his name and title. He then deter-
mined to enter the matrimonial state, and selected
as his partner a bonny, bright-eyed, dark-haired
young lady, about 22 years of age, of very agree-
able manners, and of a lively disposition. For a
time all went " merry as a marriage bell ;" but the
marquis was disappointed in one respect—his lady
presented him with no token of affection in the
shape of heir to his title and estates. A trip to the
Continent was resolved upon ; and at Paris, in the
early part of last year, the marchioness was intro-
duced to Mr. C--, a dashing young gentleman,
about 27 years of age, who was then travelling for
one of our principal commercial houses. The
acquaintance thus hastily formed quickly ripened
into friendship, and this resulted in the establishment
of a regular correspondence between the two. The
marquis and marchioness returned froth Paris, and
the lady suggested that the pure air of Derbyshire
would benefit her health, and in May, 1860, fixed
upon the beautiful little village of Matlock as a
temporary residence. The marchioness, accom-
panied by her maid (the latter of whom assumed
the name of Eliza Thomas), arrived at Matlock, in
due course, one bright May morning last year.
On the 19th of May, 1861, a young gentleman
and a lady, accompanied by their maid, applied to
the proprietor of an hotel, who resides not above a
mile from the botanical gardens, to know if he could
accommodate them with apartments, &c., for about
' a week, as they were on a bridal tour. The hotel
is a well-built modern residence, with large and
lofty rooms, well furnished, and very commodious
in every respect. Terms were agreed upon, and the
"newly married " couple at once entered into pos-
session. All went on very smoothly ; the happy
pair enjoyed themselves thoroughly, and when the
week expired expressed their intention of staying a
short lime longer, as they had been so very com-
fortable. They visited, either on horseback or in a
conveyance, many of the pleasant nooks in the
vicinity of Sheffield, or whiled away the day in the
shady walks of our botanical gardens, or amused
themselves with a game of bowls ou the green
I attached to the hotel. Of an evening, Mr.

would frequently smoke his cigar i❑ the bar along
with the host, and "Mrs. C.," who appeared
to be very fond of children, would pass the time
agreeably with one of the innkeeper's children,
to whom she appeared particularly partial, and
her maid, as she objected to smoking in the
sitting-room. One thing they never failed doing,
namely, visiting Matlock mice every week. The
roaspn of this weekly visit will be apparent by the
s€quel of the case. At length a month passed
pleasantly away, and Mr. and Mrs. C--, with
Eliza " Thomas," the maid, took their departure,
expressing themselves perfectly satisfied with the
accommodation that had been afforded them and the
attention they had received from the host and
hostess.

On Friday last the proprietor of the hotel in
question was surprised by the visit of a gentleman,
who announced that he was a member of a legal
firm in London, and that his business was to serve
a subpoena upon the innkeeper, his wife, and bar-
maid, as witnesses in the pending divorce case of
W-- v. W-- and C--, which is fixed to come
on about the 19th February. He had travelled
from London specially to servo the subpoenas per-
sonally, and gave the landlord a handsome retain-
ing fee to pay the railway fare for himself, his good
lady, and barmaid.
It appears that when the marchioness came down
to spend amonth at Matlock she had made arrange-
ments to meet Mr. C--, and the result of that was
that they determined to spend a month together at
Sheffield, when the lady assumed the character of
the wife of Mr. C--. and the maid (who, of course
had to be entrusted with the secret) also assumed
a false name, her real name being Eliza James.
The object of going weekly to Matlock was for
the purpose of receiving or replying to any
letters from the deceived marquis, or from any
other correspondent, as no communications were
ever iscued by post daring their stay in Sheffield.
The discovery of the clandestine intercourse
took place in a most singular manner. Mr C--
corresponded with the marchioness through the
medium of Eliza James, the lady's maid, and by
some mischance or other the marquis happened to
open a letter addressed to the maid, and found an
enclosure for the marchioness. Curiosity prompted
him to read it, and he found it was from the co-
respondent, C He then interrogated the
maid, who confessed to the irregularities of her
mistress. The consequence was an immediate se-
paration, and the establishment of the present suit.
The damages are laid at £5,000, and Sergeant Shee
is the leading counsel for the petitioner.