Chapter XXX.


The Lord President.


Mrs. Linley's application for a Divorce was heard in the first
division of the Court of Session at Edinburgh, the Lord President
being the judge.

To the disappointment of the large audience assembled, no defense
was attempted on the part of the husband--a wise decision, seeing
that the evidence of the wife and her witnesses was beyond
dispute. But one exciting incident occurred toward the close of
the proceedings. Sudden illness made Mrs. Linley's removal
necessary, at the moment of all others most interesting to
herself--the moment before the judge's decision was announced.

But, as the event proved, the poor lady's withdrawal was the most
fortunate circumstance that could have occurred, in her own
interests. After condemning the husband's conduct with unsparing
severity, the Lord President surprised most of the persons
present by speaking of the wife in these terms:

"Grievously as Mrs. Linley has been injured, the evidence shows
that she was herself by no means free from blame. She has been
guilty, to say the least of it, of acts of indiscretion. When the
criminal attachment which had grown up between Mr. Herbert Linley