The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-01-27
A Strange Story of Infatuation-A
Wife's Strategy.

The New York correspondent of the
Boston Journal tells the following
strange story:
A lady about 80 years of age, the
wife of well known merchant, was in
vited by a distinguished physician to
call at his Office at II O'Clock on a given
day. She went down, and found the
doctor in company with her husband.
He was the physician of the family.
He informed her that he had disagree
able duty to discharge. 1t was that
her husband was entirely alienated from
her, and would live with her no more !;
he would provide for her, give her a
comfortable house and maintenance :;
and with that she must be content. The
blow felled her to the floor. She was
taken home maniac, and weeks passed
before she recovered her reason. Her
home was broken up, and she moved
into the new quarters provided for her.
1t was evident that the husband had
formed an attachment to another wo-
man. He bought the house that he
proposed to give her and furnished it
elegantly from saloon to attic. He
promised to give her bill of sale of all
the personal effects in the mansion. To
save appearances she took few gen.
tleman dodgers. The man laviShed on
this woman heavy sums of money. He
bought her the best silks and satins,
sable furs, and sacks, and footed all the
bills she ran up at Stewards. She pass
ed as rich widow from Virginia; re-
ceived letters from pretended relatives
about fortune she was coming into by
and by, and with these papers secured
large sums of money. The mere liant
drew heavily on his firm, and was
threatened with bankruptcy.
Getting an inkling of what was going
on, the wife consulted well-known de-
tective. He advised her to commence
a suit against her husband, which she
refused to do. 81 don't want money!"
she said, 50 / want my husband, with
whom have lived forty years. If he
could know what / know the charm
would DE broken and he would return
to his home penitent man." The de-
tective undertook to work the case up.
He visited the house and had an inter-
view with the woman, and secured one
of the best rooms for a lodger. That
lodger was the detectives own man,
who was to gather up the little facts
that would appear in the management
of the concern. He followed the wom-
an for week, and paid special atten-
ton to the husband" of the woman's
sister who had lodgings in the building.
He visited the merchant in his store,
made an appointment to ride out with
him the next day about 5 miles to look
at fine coupe-horSe, which he was de-
Sirous of purchasing for his female
companion. Instead of finding the
horse he was brought face to face with
his wife, whom he had not seen for
months The interview could not be
averted. The black record of the wom-
ans character and crime was laid be-
fore him. He saw how his money went,
and what sort of an establishment he
was supporting, and how he was the
laughing-stock of his associates. His
infatuation ended, and he resoived tG
return to town, denOunce the woman,
and forsake her. He proposed to get
back the property that the woman claim
ed &s her own. A little scheme
was laid that turned out to be an emf
nent success. The woman wanted a
few hundred dollars for her sister, to be
paid through her "sister's husband"
She wanted set of diamonds for Christ
mas and coupe for lady's day at New
Years. A note was dispatched under
direction of the detective, asking her to
meet her friend at q well-knOwn tryst-
ing place the next day at IL, to decide
upon these little gifts desired. She was
to remain from II to l, in case business
should detain the merchant. Promptly
on time she left in her coach, and had
hardly turned the corner before wagons
drove up, and in an hour the house was
from the basement to the up
per story. Pictures, vases, statuary,
damask curtains, silver, wines, all dis
appeared. At 2 o'clock the woman of
the mansion drove up. The colored |
woman wrung her hands in despair, the |
shield of the detective having kept her
quiet. Almost at the same moment the |
burly form of New York's well-known |
detective came in sight. He ordered |
the woman off the steps and turned the |
key, saying as he walked away: Don't |
annoy that man; don't 90 near his
store; write him no notes. If you do, !
III arrest you for your past crimes and
send you TO the island" The merchant |
and his wife are now living costly in
their old homestead. But for this timely |
there would have been an
other heavy failure in New York. Per-
haps an additional suicide.