The Penn's Grove record., 1917-03-02

closed behind me with a bang by nv
beloved mother-in-law.
My first act after my marriage I am
going to state without any explana-
ton. For such things there is no ex-
PLANTATION that can be expressed in
words. l went straight to q jewellery
store, bought a solitaire diamond ring.
for which paid exactly $1,000. and
sent it by express to my wife.
Since the package was addressed to
her there was a chance that she would
open it without her mothers knowing
Of it's reception, and il she did I was
curious to learn whether she would
return it or not. The express agent
gave me a receipt signed by my bride.
and after a week had elapsed and my
gift had not been returned / concluded
that it had been retained without Mrs.
Tfverton's knowledge. l was in hopes
that l would receive a note from the
recipient expressing her thanks, but I
did not.
A year passed before l was informed
that l was expected to take certain
steps that ! had agreed to take which
would enable my wife to secure a d.
yorce. At the same time l learned
that proofs that the soldier in Belgium
who would have inherited the earIdom
Of A~rraskiliing was dead had been Of
fered In England and his younger
brother had inherited the title and es-
tates. This fact explained my being
called upon in the matter Of the d.
vorce.
l had noticed when reading the doc
ument given me to sign immediately
before my marriage that my pledge
read that ION being called upon by
the said Bertha Tfverton" I was to
take certain steps In the matter OF q
divorce. When / saw that her mother
was managing her matrimonial affairs
for her / resolved that when called
upon to act in the matter ! would fol-
low the letter Of the agreement and
refuse to act except on the request OF
my wife.
When / received notification that I
was expected to fulfil my promise !
called on my uncle and told him that I
was ready to do 30 provided the re-
quest was made by my wife and that
I might be sure she and not another
was making it required that She
tell me In person. Furthermore, that
/ might be sure she was making ft
without duress. ] required that she
make the request without any person
except herself and myself being pres
emit
When my uncle heard me make this
statement he looked at me c~uriously
for a few moments without speaking,
then asked me If / was sure / had the
right to insist upon what | proposed.
I gave him the reading Of the docu-
ment as ! remembered it. He simply
said that if l was correct in quoting Il
/ had the right to what / claimed. !
saw at a glance that he sympathized
with me in the matter. though he
would not countenance my taking .
dishonorable stand. ] asked him to
convey my demand to the Tlvert0ns.
which he promised to do.
A few days later my uncle Informed
me that he had transmitted what / had
said to Mrs. Tiverton and her daugh-
ter. He did not tell me how the mes
sage had been received by either, but
said that he had nothing further to dc
with the matter and | would be dealt
with directly by Mrs. Tyerton.
A week passed, and l heard nothing
from my motherin-law. OF course !
was in the dark why no action had
been taken. Then / saw q notice in q
newspaper that the Earl of Arras-
killing was in America and being
sought after by society. determined
to get a view OF his lordship, and, hav-
ing a friend who was a member OF &
club at which the earl had been .'puf
up" / arranged to see him there. One
day when he was at the club | was
telephoned by my friend to Come
around at once l did so. and the earl
was pointed out to me. A single
glance at him convinced me that, bar
ring his title. l would not be egotistica1
in assuming that 1 could win any wo-
man from him. His lordship was posi-
lively insignificant In looks. and l was
assured that his intellect vas no bet
ter.
Soon after this a woman came ID
see me who said she was Miss liver
tons maid" She told me that her
mistress was bitterly opposed to mar
rying a title with an apology for .
man attached, and it was intimated to
me that my wife favored my maintains
ing the point l had taken in acting
only on her request. Through the maid
I begged my wife to grant me an In
terview. She consented, and we met
at the house Of a friend OF hers who
was in her confidence.
I was astonished at the change that
had taken place In her since our mar
riage. At that time she had been
something of a child; now she Was
a woman. Without knowing it | had
launched a coup d'etat In expendine
the fee ! had received for marrying
her for a wedding gift Ny uncle bad
f0Id her ahouf ma and that rv4rh-H