The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-12-30
HIDDEN ROMANCE
IN LIVES OF MEN
MuIti-MiIIionaire Belt Was Once
Engaged to Marry
MANY SAD LOVE AFFAIRS
List of Stories Brought to Light After
Death of Men and Women Particu-
arly Observation-Disclosures
Romance.
MANY SAD LOVE AFFAIRS

From the London (ontario) Advertiser
The discovery, after the late Mr.. BETS
death, that In his early days of compare
tive poverty the multi-millionalre had in
sured his life for 100000, of which e15.-
900 was to be paid on his decease to
elizabeth Bennett. my intended wife,"
adds another to the list of lives which
have held some quite unsupported ro-
nance.
It is not many years since the death Of
Mr.. Haworth, wealthy North Country
bachelor, at the age of 81. disclosed a
similar romance, of which no one living
had any knowledge. In a secret drawer
In his desk was found an old will be-
queathing all his estate to Miss Ellen
Knowles, who has promised to be my
wife, and whom l wish to enjoy my
fortune, whatever fate may have in store
for me-
At this time Mr.. Haworth was In
delicate state of health, and there was
probability that he would not live to be-
come the husband of Miss Knowles. But
fate decreed otherwise, for the lady died
in 1892 the year after the will was made,
while her lover, who seems never to have
had the heart to make another will, actu-
ally survived her for nearly sixty years.
From the day of his great sorrow Mr..
Haworth never mentioned to soul even
the name of the lady whom he had loved
and lost, and among the younger genera
tions he had the reputation of being a
hopeless old bachelor to whom sentiment
had always been a stranger.
More remarkable still was the case of
Mr. Henry S. P, a Devonshire man,
who until his death few years ago, was
not only bachelor, but had the reputa-
ton of being a woman-hater. For forty
years no woman had ever entered his
house, nor had he ever been known to
speak to one. His wants, simple enough,
were attended to by a manservant as old
and crusty as himself, and, in short, IL
ever a man lived whom cupid had always
left severely alone it was surely "old
Henry P"
Drawer of Love Letters
Great, therefore, was the amazement
when an examination of his effects, after
death, revealed drawer full of love.
letters of the tenderest description, all
arranged to order Of date and neatly tied
in bundles From these letters, yellow
with age, it was clear that the old mis-
ogynist had for some years been en-
RdReu TO Il CulluItu anu tiitllAlh Woiiie'ii,
whose memory he had evidently cherished
to his last day, but how the romance
came to an end seems not to have been
revealed.
In another recent case a Mr.. James
Lawson Scott, who died unwed at the
age of 70, left all his fortune, amounting
to over $4,000, to a married lady who
had been the idol of his heart for nearly
half a century. When Mr.. Scott was
very young man he lost his heart to the
daughter of neighboring squire, she re-
ciprocating his love. The squire, however,
frowned on the suit of the young man,
who at the time had barely qualified as
an architect and was practically penni-
less; and so strong was the influence he
brought to bear, on his daughter that she
was compelled to break the engagement
Mr.. Scott remained true to his love,
and, although he never saw the lady after
the day before her marriage, he remained
single for her sake and left her every
penny of his fortune.
Maiden Ladys Romance.
Nor have men any monopoly of these
concealed ronances as was proved only
last year, when Miss D, wealthy
and eccentric lady of Surrey, died. To
her most intimate friend, who had shared
her home for thirty years and more, she
had never breathed a word of the love
story which was locked up In her breast;
indeed, she had the reputation of being,
If not exactly man hater, at least a
woman who had no sympathy whatever
with love and lovers. And yet, when her
papers were examined after her death,
very touching story came to light.
1t seems that when a mere girl, sixty
years earlier, she had been engaged FOR
two years to a young army officer, who
had Tilted her on the eve of her mar
riage-in fact, he married another woman
on the very day that he was to have
made her his wife. In later years he fell
into disgrace, was dismissed from the
army, and died, leaving widow and
four young children destitute. From the
day of his death this good woman. whose
faith in man had been so cruelty shat
tered, made the widow handsome yearly
allowance. in addition to giving each OF
her four sons a fair start in life.
SACRED TO MRS. EDDY.