The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-03-28
DETAILS OF ROMANCE THAT SHATTERED TWO HOMES AND
 DROVE HUSBAND TO SUICIDE
Hchborn-Wye Case Stranger Than Pinero Pay-Mrs Hich borns Confidence of Her Power Over Lover Great That She Sent Him Back His Wife Knowing He Would Return to Her

1 noted beauty and the daughter of a | famous Washington lawyer. Not many years after her marriage, how l ever, she withdrew almost entirely | from the younger social set in which she had been resplendent and devoted 1 herself entirely to her children. l The debonair Wylie had known i young Mrs. Hichborn since she was a 1 little girl, and she had first engaged 1 his interest because of her accom- plishments as an equestr1enne. She was a daring graceful rider. On ten-
 his court and golf links she was also ] factor and an attraction.
 l The Wylies and the Hichborns be-
 coming great friends, Hichborn him. self being of quiet, retiring disposi- WyIie would be seen in gallant at- l tendance on both his wife and the l youthful Hichborn bride. But there was no public display of an undue | intimacy, and when Washington learn
 ed that in reality they had become l lovers and, what is more, had actual
 ly run away together, there was a
 general sitting up and gasping tn | sheer astonishment.
 l The tilted young husband, the tilted wife of Wylie, the mother and sister
 of young Hichborn, the mother sis l ter ana DrOInor or ms WlIe, CT1oO OoS- perately to hold back the truth. of the
 situation. For some time the fiction
 of Mrs. Hichborn's being in a sani- | tarium and of MT. Wylie being In
 Europe on a business trip was kept
 up, but hopelessly. The couple were 1 recognized again and again in resorts
 in Europe and Canada.
 | Of course, their action meant noth- ing short of complete ostracism from
 their oId ''crowd'' Wylie from Eu-
 rope sent resignations to all of his 1 clubs. Mrs. Hichborn wrote defiantly
 to both her husband and her mother, declaring that she was never so hap
 py in her life as she had been with Wylie, and that they need never ex-
 pect to see her again.
 | Hichborn was utterly prostrated. l There is no doubt of his having adOr- ed his wife to the degree of ido1iza- i ton. Knowing how strong this love was, Mrs. Hoyt went to him to plead | on behalf of her daughter; said she would go to Elinor herself and bring
 her back if only Hichborn would con-
 sent to a reconciliation. He gave a
 sort of tentative cOuntenance to Mrs.
 Hoyt's proposal and she, with her
 daughter, Madame von Stumm. went 1 to Europe and met Mrs. H1chborn, and Wylie, too, at a villa near Paris.
 The young woman utterly refused to |
 ment which still exists occurred there
 and then between the young woman
 and her mother. Her sister also has
 cut her off from all social recognition.
 But a few months afterward dis
 turbing thoughts assailed the remark 7 might not really love her; might
 merely be infatuated? Or supposing | that this was the real state of her
 feeling toward him? Suppose they
 should soon tire? To be sure, 1t was
 rather late in the day to consider that
 elopement. Nevertheless. there should be a test. Wylie should go back to
 his wife and see if he could be satis-
 fled there; see if he could live with out his new love. She would go back
 to her husband and make the test of
 rekindle her love for Hichborn. | As pointed out, in her case the Hichborn family epulsed this ad-
 vance. But Wylie's, wife, sacrificing her own feelings because of her chill
 dren, accepted the ordeal. And young
 Mrs. Hichborn won. Society had just ] begun to forgive Wylie his sin; he had many friends who were very willing
 to forget if the opportunity was giv- 1 en.
 These smiled in great approval
 when public record reports made it
 known that he had given over to his
 wife his entire $4Oo,0OO worth of real
 estate and personal property to the
 value of $1OO,O0O as well. The terms
 of this munificent gift were set in the
 sideration of love. and affection and $1O in hand paid. But in reality Wylie had confessed to his wife that he was utterly wretched away from l the other woman; had frankly said
 he was going back to her and as an I n r,f 6Y,fxy ha children with a half million dollars of
 his fortune. But this fact did not
 come out until long after his depart
 ure. In horror of notoriety Mrs. Wylie did all she could to keep the | true state of affairs secret.
 l But Mrs. Hichborn, who did not leave this country for the rendezvous
 abroad until several days after Wylie's departure, took no pains to conceal
 her happiness of the outcome of the
 had never been in doubt that he
 would return to her, but had advised | the step in unselfish devotion to him fearful that he might regret the
 step he had taken only when it would
 be altogether too late to effect any wife.
 1 But on one point the elopers stood facing stern treatment from both the 1 injured persons in the triangle. Mrs. | Wylle would not HSCen to pleas that she divorce her husband, nor would | Hichborn agree to divorce his wife.
 They were left powerless, therefore,
 to cover their delinquency by a mar | riage.
 In January last, however, Hichborn did file papers in a suit, which is still pending. He threw all secrecy to the winds in making the complaint and
 with cold frankness set forth the facts
 as he knew and believed them.
 "It is a matter of notoriety,' his