The Cricketer, The Yachtsman, His Wife and Her Lover

GH on a very cricket-y scandal

‘My darling Old Len,’ the letter began, dated 11 February 1904. It had been torn up, but from a painstaking jigsaw the following could be read:

Well, dear, guess you are just arriving at Australia. I wonder if you have thought of your old kiddie once since yesterday. I hope so Len. Well, darling, lots have happened since you left last night. There was a big row. Don’t be surprised if you get word at any time that I leave by the Sonoma on the 22nd of this month for New York. Poor little nurse cried all night, and I was sorry for her.

The writer was society belle Ruby Bona Wallace [above], the reassembler her husband Charles Dunkley Wallace; the scenario was their uneasy marriage, leading to their scandalous Edwardian divorce which for two months transfixed Melbourne, partly because ‘Len’ was one of the Golden Age’s premier all-round cricketers.

Crowds continue to rush the Law Court daily, in the hope of hearing something of the case. Those failing to obtain admittance wait to see the principles depart. The crowd round Mrs Wallace's cab was so great at lunch time that a special force of police had to be called. Many articles of female attire were picked up after yesterday's crush.