Good Faith

Twenty-two years ago, two souls felt the lure of the Gobi Desert. The girl went as missionary; the man as explorer of the mysteries of Mongolia. The girl heard of the man and came unto his camp in the garb of a male. Her sex was discovered; love kindled. A Belgian missionary married them; two years they wandered honeymooning, unseen by white man. They returned to France and the fickle adventurer abandoned his desert mate and their little daughter, Pauline.

Last week a Paris court declared null and void the marriage of Count Jacques Bouly de Lesdain, explorer-journalist, and Mabel Bailey of Chicago. According to French law, a Frenchman marrying abroad must have the ceremony performed either by a French diplomatic agent, or in the custom of the country of residence at the time. Neither of these conditions were fulfilled. A Belgian missionary is not a French diplomat. Mongolian custom says that a man must either capture his wife in a horse galloping ceremony, or buy her from her family (ten ewe lambs being the price of a maiden and 20 for a young widow).

But, in spite of French law and Mongolian folklore, Mabel Bailey (the Countess de Lesdain) maintained that the wedding ceremony was carried through in perfect good faith by both parties. Therefore the court declared marriage was "putative." It is null in law but valid in equity. Daughter Pauline is legitimate.