ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2150, 20 November 1885, Page 2

ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE.

The detailsofan extraordinary caseof an alleged bigamous marriage of a pretended Russian Prince with au American heiress, and the pursuit of the bride and bridegroom from New York to Rotterdam, where they were discovered only the other day, are so replete with sensational incident that they read more like the imaginative story of a three-volume novel than episodes of real life, According to the Bristol correspondent of tho "Daily Telegraph," it appears that a few years ago there suddenly appeared in the city a young mail of noble mien', handsome features, and an accomplished linguist, and polished man of the world. He described himself, as the Prince Zacharias Basilius Zaeharoff Gortschakoff, Garde Imperiale, Aidti-dc-Camp de so Majeste l'Empercur; and, though a prince, lie was so affable to all sorts and conditions of people that he became veiy popular in many circles, and eventually succeeded in winning the hand, of the daughter of a highly-respectable Bristol tradesman, 'The Prince's' wedding tour was unfortunately interrupted by his arrest in Belgium on a charge of fraud in relation to foreign bonds, and he was brought back to England under'the Extradition Treaty, and charged before the Lord Mayor with misappropriating securities to the value of upwards of £IOOO from the safe of a M, Hephistides, of Constantinople. In the course of this prosecution it'was alleged that "the Prince" had, somo time before the fraud, planted upon the unsuspecting Greek an iron safe, of which he himself retained a duplicate key, and by means of which he some two years afterwards succeeded in possessing himself of the bonds.' The next heard pf "the fringe" was as plaintiff }n ap action tried in the Briatpl Tolaey Oourt in October, 1874, in which he sought to. recover damages from his father-in-law and Alfred Priiribje, a constable of the Bristol police force, for false imprisonment under somewhat extraordinary circumstances. It appears that his wife, having refused to live with him any longer, was residing with her father at Bristol, and ."the"Prince," byway of assertiug his marital authority, was in the habit of knocking violently-at the father's door at all hours of the night and disturbing the peace of the neighborhood, This conduct becoming unbearable,' "The Prince" was given into custody, and hence the action. The proceedings in .the Tolzey Court were chiefly interesting for the- severe cross-examination as to his antecedents, to which he was : subjected by Mr J. P. Norris, the learned counsel who appeared for the defendants, and now one of Her Majesty's Judges in India. The jury returned a verdict for the'defendant, Brimble, and for a farthing damages only against the father-in. law, and the Recorder refused tq certify for costs. After this action, "the Prince"' appears to have sought solace in foreign travel, and from tjmo to time he was heard of at Cyprus, Constantinople, and eventually a report reached Bristol that lie had been shot by the Civil Guard whilst escaping from a prison in Persia. He was regarded, though not mourned, as dead; but about the middle of last month a gentleman whom ire will designate as Mr P—now resident in Philadelphia, but formerly a citizen of iirjstol, and an intimate friend of the-pseudo. Prince, observed |n tjip" Now York fleraid" the following announcement pf marriage " Zacharoff-Billingp-At tho Hotel Madison, August-26th, by the Rev. J. Stanley d'Oreay, Zacharla Zaeharoff to Jeanne J?ranees Billings, all of this city." The name of the bridegroom revived old reminiscences of ljjs former friend, " the Prince," whose bones he had supposed were bleaching on the wilds of Persia. On making inquiries he found that his surmises were correct, that Zacharia Zaeharoff, who now'described him?

self as a count, was no other than hia , whilom associate'' the" Prince." He also learnt that he had obtained an entree into the best of IjTew York Bociety, and with a cheerful disregard of the laws of bigMK, had extracted a mesalliance witbflfti American heiress in hor own tight, and largo expectations from her'mother. Mr P— at onco put himself into, communication with the lady'B friends, and although " tho Prince" assumed an air of indignation, and professed ignorance of all his old associations with Bristol, and asserted that his accuser was mad, and that there must be a great mistake somewhere, he ultimately submitted to an arrangement whereby,'' although he had gone through the, cereftony of marriage,he agreed toliye apart from his wife until he furnished to the' lady's family satisfactory proofs of his bona fides, and of his claim to the title of Count,, and to the estates of which he claimed fcfe be possessed.' By Bome means, he succeeded in eluding the vigilance of the lady's friends, and having won the 'confidence of his bride he induced her surreptitiously to leave her home and fake passage on board a steamer for Rotterdam. Tlie flight of the couple aroused the worst suspicions of the'lady's friends,'who at once entrusted Mr Pwith the t<lsk of following the fugitives, obtainingproofsof "the Prince's"treachery, and-forcing him to surrender the lady to her mother. Mr P——, after consultation with the firm' of Messrs' Crow and Jenks, solicitors, of New started with Mr Jenks on this somolSat formidable commission, which they curried out with promptitude and energy, and which resulted in unqualified sticcess, Leaving New York in the Servia two days later than the fugitives, they, on arrival at Liverpool, wired ttf Mr Benson, solicitor, of Bristol, to ascertain the whereabouts of "the Prince's" first wife. Following the telegram in a few liquro, they, with Mr Benson's prompt assistance,. soon. accumulated abundant proof of "the Prince's" perfidy. Mr Benson had acted for the first wife's family in-the action^ 1 already mentioned, and thus havingnT' close knowledge of" the Prince's" antecedents, he was in possession of such information which soon led to the finding of the first wife in. London. .' From the photographs >in possession' of Mr P—, the Bristol detectives fully identified the Bristol Prince with the.American. Count; but there was no time to bo lost, and 'on ■ September 16th Mr P— and his American lawyer crossed to Rotterdam accompanied, by the first-wife and her brother, Detective-Inspector , Short, and the necessary statutory declarations and photographs, one of the latter being a portrait of the" Prince \ ami hiß first wife. Arriving at RotterdamJKißy had the good fortune to find that anticipated the arrival of "the Prince's" steamer, which was not due until September 19th. In the meantime they laid the facts before the American Consul, and secured his co-operation. As soon as the steamer arrived Miss Billings received a polite message from the Consul, requesting her attendance athis chambers, whoro shortly afterwards the unsuspecting " prince " and his bride presented themselves. After a few minutes' conversation' with the Consul on general topics, tjb, fugitive couple, who had taken the naj®T of Mr and Mrs Sewhar, were■ astounded to see Mr P—and Nr Jenks enter the room. "The prince," equal to the ' occasion, cried out in broken English, " That horrid man again! Take him away; lie is mad!" But he soon became aware that there was method in his madness, when "the prince's" wife No. 1 appeared from an inner room, leaning oiv tho arm cf her brother, followed by-Detective-Inspector Short, Words would fail to describe the astonishment) and dis« may exhibited by the adventurer when confronted by these startling projJftFor afew minutes only he tried with'a high hand, but before such overwhelming- evidence he succumbed, and, in his own words, had to admit that the game was up. The unhappy heiress, murmuring, " Don't be too hard upon him," fainted away, and she is now returning to her friends in America, under the charge of Mr Jenks. Perhaps the one morsel of consolation in the sad story is the fact that Miss Billings' trustees had not yet parted with her fortune. As for "the prince" he hurriedly left the Consul's house, apparently not liking the mity of Inspector Short.