MAN OF MYSTERY

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8340, 29 January 1913, Page 11

MAN OF MYSTERY

AMAZING CAREER OF DELAY

SECRET DIVORCE. FICTITIOUS CO-RESPONDENT CREATED. LONDON, December 15. Little by little the facts concerning the life of James Arthur Delay, who was found hanging by his braces dead in his bedroom at the Atlantic Hotel, Newquay, thirty-six hours after the disappearance of Mrs Nowill, aro coming to light. Each fresh revelation proves him to have been an amazingly secretive man, who had many phases in his life, which he had kept hidden from those who thought that they knew him best.

His friends and relatives were surprised on learning of his secret passion for Mrs Nowill; his friends and relatives were astonished to find after his death that ho was married—that he had been married for thirteen months. Hut the most amazing secret that ho kept from everyone except one woman, was the fact that he secretly passccj through the British Divorce Court in 1910-11, nuclei a false name, without his identity being suspected cither by his relatives, his friends, his solicitors, or, above all. by the wronged husband. It is only in the last few hours that his knowledge has come into their possession. Tho story of how Delay won the affection of a woman who was supposed to be leading a normal, happy married life, without any suspicion reaching her husband, is one that would seem incredible if told in a work of fiction. Delay became associated with a Mrs Young—when, only he and she know, but probably in 1909. Secretly the two met—when or how often this secret man has succeeded in hiding- from everyone. At the same period in that year, or very early in 1910, the woman agreed to eiye up her husband and home and throw in her lot with Delay. This step was obviously not one dictated entirely by Impulse, so far as Delay was concerned. He had decided, in his deep and secret manner, that he would take tho woman from .her husband and onarry her. Yet ho did not desire that anyone but she should know who had inflicted the wrong upon the husband. So, with quiet determination and painstaking care, he evolved a scheme, which his legal knowledge doubtless helped him to devise, of concealing tho identity of James Arthur Delay for the time being and becoming a second person. He therefore conjured up one Arthur Daly. Arthur Daly, of unknown occupation and address, was to be the man who had stolen another's wife, and he was to continue to exist only until James Arthur Delay could return to his old world. This apparently impossible task Delay carried out without anyone knowing. When Delay's plans were safely laid the woman fled from her astonished husband’s house, leaving, behind her a letter to her husband stating: “I am leaving you for ever. ... I am going away with tho man I love with all my heart and soul. Up to the moment when he received that letter tho husband had no idea that his wife was particularly friendly with any man, or even, had any friends unknown, to him. Sho apparently was never away from home unaccountably, and there was nothing in her manner to cause him the slightest suspicion that all was not well. Never einco has tho husband seen the wife except for n brief moment in. a London street, and who the man. was for whom sho had left him ho had no idea until a few days ago. , , . The matrimonial suit was reported in tho press, and a decree absolute was pronounced by tho Divorce Court Judge last year. Shortly afterwards Arthur Daly ceased to exist, and James Arthur Delay married Mrs Young on November Ist, 1911, in New York. With characteristic secrecy Delay gave a false address ad his New York place of abode at tho time of that marriage. Tho following report of tho divorce case of Young v. Young and Daly appcared in tb© “Daily Mail* s PATHETIC LETTERS. Damages amounting to JSKX), with a decree nisi and costs, were granted to Mr Leonard Young, a solicitor's clerk, on account of the misconduct of his wife with the co-respondent, Mr Arthur Daly, whose position was not stated,. Mr W. Willis appeared for the petitioner, who stated in his evidence that he was married on August 23rd, 1901. On January 11th last, on returning homo from work, he found unon the table the following letter from his wife: Dear Teddy,—This is going to bo a very painful letter for you to read, but it is even more painful for mo to have to write it. To-day X am leaving you forever. Do not be angry with me, but try and forgive, even though I am doing you such a great wrong. Please, Teddy, don't worry overmuch about it, for indeed I cannot help it. I am going away with the man I love with all my heart and soul. I So much do I love him that I would commit suicide rather than live without him. This is no idle boast, for I mean it. Oh, Teddy, poor Teddy, if I could only go to this man without causing you pain! You have been very good to me, and I often wished, because yon had been so good to me, that I had not married you. But may I ask yon one favour, the last I shall ever ask of you? I implore you, Teddy, to grant it —will you divorce me? I ask this not so much for my own sake, I don't care what the world thinks of me, but because in Dio future I may have a child. You will he feeling very bitter against me, but still I do not think you will be so cruel as to withhold from me all chance of becoming an honest woman; and as I can never return to you it will bo tho best way. .... If you only knew what a relief it is to go away. I have hated and loathed myself tor deceiving yon. . . . MOLLIE. Tho petitioner further said that he replied six days later s

Oh, Mollie, it is hard to realise that you, in whom I hail such trust and confidence and always looked up to, should serve mo so badly. . . . Your own last request I grant, having regard to the deep and affectionate feelings I always bad, and still have, for you, in tho sincere hope that tho happiness yon now experience will not bo a fleeting fancy, but a deep and lasting reality. Poor old Mollie! Good-bye. TEDDY.

In the divorce petition Daly, the corespondent, was described as “of address unknown, formerly of tho Groat Centra] Hotel." Prom the momept Mrs Young loft her husband Delay used the rams of Daly at the various hotels at which he stayed,_ and no one apparently had any suspicion that that was not his correct name. Delay was determined that no one should; ho would take no risks. Leaving his own Lawyers completely in the dark as to his doings, he approached another firm of solicitors as Arthur Daly, and by that name only did the firm know him. He introduced himself as a friend of a deceased partner of the firm and said he had been abroad for many years. He wished them to act for him in the case, which he had no intention of defending. He also retained the solicitors to act for tho errant wife. "ARTHUR DALY."

Tile husband had instructed his solicitors to take action for divorce, and the name of the co-respondent, was supplied by the.wife as "Arthur Dalv," and also tho address of the house where both had temporarily lived. Prom that time onwards Delay—as Daly—moved about from hotel to hotel, keeping away from friends and relatives. But when the

time came for the divorce citation to bo nerved bo hired lodgings tor a week iu uld Quebec street, U . Up to that time Delay, as Daly, had not been seen by anyone -who knew him as Delay. But a period arrived when it was necessary to serve him personally with the citation in tho divorce case. Therefore he was obliged to show himself, and the solicitor s representative, acting for the husband, called upon him by appointment and handed him the document, informing him that ha was cited to appear iu the case of Voung v. Young and Daly. Delay, of course, did not itpxiear at the trial, but left for America. On November Ist, 1911, according to Now York records, James Arthur Delay, agal tortv-six, solicitor, married Alarm Leslie Young, aged thirty-two, widow, at the Marriage Bureau, New boric City iiali. One letter from Daly was received iu London about this time and then Daly ceased to exist. James Arthur Delay resumed his existence. On November 25th, 1911—twcuty-four daj'S after the marriage—Air and Airs Delay were in Bournemouth, for on that day he executed his will leaving .LTOJiIfU in trust for bis wife. From then onwards Daly had another secret to guard —the secret of his marriage. That bo succeeded 'in doing so until after his death is known. How he did so no one will probably ever know- Iron; the time of his marriage he was the lespected friend of tho Nowills, but they, like his othir friends and relatives, believed him to be a bachelor. _ It is strange to note that Delay's meetings with tho Now ills (“about two years ago,'' said Mr Nowill at the inquest) must have been about the time when Mrs Young was about to leave her husband; and the holiday spent at li'ilsy with the Nowills in the summer of this year was within nine months of his New York marriage. Delay was articled to the late Mr H. E. Grible, a well-known solicitor, of 38, Bedford row, W.C., in Jnly. 1881. As he had not a university degree he was articled for the full term of five years, and was admitted a solicitor on November 17th. 1886. At that time his address was given in the official records as Upper Tooting. Ho never took out a practising certificate in this country. He spent nineteen years in Singapore, where he practised as a solicitor and, amassed considerable wealth, as indicated by the proving his estate at over .£70,000. Ho returned to England three or four years ago. During his nineteen years’ residence in Singapore Mr Delay was a popular member of the English community. He was an able lawyer, and also figured prominently in sporting circles, Being a good cricketer (a fine outfield), also a Rugby footballer and a tennis, player of some skill. He was considered a sedate and confirmed bachelor. Ho had many friends at tho Sports Club, London.