Leaves from an English Solicitor s Note Book. after the birth of her boy, for some other woman. She told me the history of her struggles to keep up a home for the boy, and to save him from coming under the control of his father. There were no bitter words of reproach against her worthless husband, no fiery outburst of indignation, such as might reasonably have been expected under the cir cumstances; it was only when she came to tell me how she made up her mind that it would be best for her boy that she should part from him and send him abroad, that her calm self-possession at last broke down; and then her grief was indeed piteous to behold; but she mastered it at last, and went on to tell me that her son was doing well in a position of trust in Belfast, and that he and she met once every year for a short two weeks of holiday in the Isle of Man. But now all her anxiety was again aroused; it appeared that she had gone to London after our former interview, had called on a friendly banker there, through whom the payments of the annuity had always hitherto been made, and had, with his friendly help, signed the will in the form which I had drawn for her supposed sister to sign, and had left it with the banker for safe custody; but that he had, unfortu nately for her, in an unguarded moment, let out lo her husband that he held the deed of separation, as also the will, in the strong room of the bank; and that she had that morning heard from the banker, that one day, during his temporary absence, the will and the deed of separation had been handed over to a lady who had called with an order which purported to be in her handwriting, but which was a forgery, as the banker had discovered soon after his return to business. The immediate question was what should she do now. Her banker advised her to go up to London, and take steps to prosecute her husband for for gery; but this advice she would not enter tain for a moment, and she startled me by saying that her banker had no grounds for suggesting to her the thought that her hus band could be so wicked as to commit for
gery. (How little can we men fathom the hearts of women!) This gave me my cue however. I pointed out to her that the loss of the deed of separa tion was not an irretrievable misfortune, so long as she had a perfect copy of it; and that a new will could be signed at once, and could be lodged in my own office for safe custody, and that the payment of the annuity could be continued as before, as though neither she nor the banker knew of the loss of the documents. I dare say some of my readers will think my advice was cowardly, and that I should have counselled her to take more drastic measures, and at least to suspend the payments of the annuity; but I saw at once from her manner that no such advice would be adopted by this calm, self-possessed and self-willed lady; and on the whole I could not but feel that by adopting the course I sug gested her own wishes would be carried into effect, and her own best interests, and those of her son served more effectually than by a prosecution with its consequent public ex posure. Whether I was right or wrong, she eagerly adopted my advice; the banker was instructed to continue the payments of the annuity, and to say nothing about the loss of the documents. Her words on signing the fresh will were "once a husband, a husband forever." The last time I saw her was when she was on her death-bed. With no great stretch of fancy I can see her now, as she lay paralyzed but conscious; calm and self-possessed as ever; her son was with her, and her last charge to me was " you will see that my husband does not come to want, or to any harm, so long as he lives and does not molest my boy," and then when I had given her my promise, she said with a very sweet look on her face "once a husband, a husband for ever." These were the last words I ever heard her utter; she died that night. About ten days after her death I had a call from a rough looking man, dressed in shabby mourning, evidently second hand,
