Tomkey v. Tomkey

²⁹³ Urner, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. The appellant filed a bill for absolute divorce from his wife, the appellee, alleging that he was married to her in October, 1888, and lived with her in Harford County, Maryland, until May, 1909, but that while his conduct towards her was above reproach, she abandoned and deserted him and has declared her intention to live with him no longer, and that the separation thus occurring has continued uninterruptedly for more than three years and is beyond any reasonable hope of reconciliation. It was alleged that two children, a son and a daughter, now adults, were bom of the marriage, and that the defendant, when last heard from, was residing in Greece. The wife appeared by counsel in the suit and filed an answer in which it was averred, that she resided with the plaintiff in Harford County until the year 1910, when by reason of ill health, and at the plaintiff’s suggestion, she returned to Sparta in the Kingdom of Greece, which was her native country; that in the latter part of the year 1912 the plaintiff joined the defendant in Sparta and they lived together there as man and wife until March, 1913, when the plaintiff stated to the defendant that he desired to go back to the Hnited States for the purpose of making some money and closing out his business interests there, and that he would possibly be absent a year or two, but would then return to the defendant in Sparta; that the plaintiff accordingly went to America in March, 1913, and has since failed to provide for the defendant’s support.

The answer denies that the defendant abandoned or deserted the plaintiff or declared her intention not to live with him, as alleged in the bill. At the hearing of the case in the Court below it was testified by the plaintiff that he was married to the defendant in Greece in the year 1888; that he came to America in 1891, leaving his wife in Greece with their two children; that he returned there in 1891 and served about ten months in the army; spending only about fourteen days at home; that he ²⁹⁴ asked his wife to go with him to America, hut she declined, suggesting that he go and make some money to raise the children, and he then left her with his mother; that in 1906 he sent his wife money to pay her way to America, but as she did not want to come herself at that time she sent their son; that he again sent her money in 1909 for traveling expenses, and that this time she made the voyage and came to Harford 'C'ounty, where she lived with the plaintiff for several months; that she had only been with him about two weeks when she received a letter telling her of the death of her sister, and from that time on she urged the plaintiff to let her go back to the old country, and in September, 1909, she returned to Greece, where she has since remained; that in 1912-13 he visited the home in Sparta occupied by his wife and son, which, appears to have been owned by the plaintiff, and lived there about four months,- though he says that he and the defendant did not then live together as man and wife; that he left Greece in 1913 and has since resided in this country. In the course of the plaintiff’s testimony he stated that when his wife left America in 1909 she said that she could not live here any more and that if he did not Want to go back to Greece, he could stay here with the children. The disposition thus described, in connection with the fact that the defendant has since remained in Greece, is claimed by the plaintiff to be