318 Mass. 34 | Mass. | 1945
This is an action of tort for wrongfully enticing away the plaintiff’s wife and for loss of consortium.
The evidence would have warranted the jury in finding the following facts. The plaintiff married Stavroula Mariolis on January 4, 1939. They lived together happily until about December 15, 1942. At that time the attitude of his wife toward the plaintiff changed. She became cold toward him. He found at that time a telegram in her pocketbook which read as follows: “Please call at once 2174. Bill” (the defendant). The plaintiff discovered that she was making curtains for the defendant and chided her for so doing. On December 31, the plaintiff and his wife were invited by the defendant to visit him at Ayer for a New Year’s eve party. They accepted. The plaintiff retired early, his wife remaining downstairs in the defendant’s spa. Awakening at twelve midnight the plaintiff went downstairs and found his wife in the spa seated at a counter. She declined to go to bed and the plaintiff once more retired. He awoke at about 3 a.m., went downstairs, and saw his wife in the kitchen. She was leaning against the wall, and the defendant was leaning against her “so close in an amorous way with his back towards the plaintiff.” Seeing the plaintiff, his wife pushed the defendant away and the latter left the room. The plaintiff rebuked his wife. The plaintiff, his wife and the defendant returned to Cambridge the next day. The following day the plaintiff told his wife that he was going to New York. His wife packed his valise and he left the house at about 9 a.m. He “hung around in the vicinity.” About 1 p.m. his wife came out of the house, walked along and made a phone call, and after a time the defendant approached and embraced her in the “public” street, and they walked away and as they proceeded the defendant had his arm around the waist of the plaintiff’s wife. The plaintiff followed them for a while but finally lost sight of them. His wife did not come home that afternoon or work that night. (Her working hours were from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.) She did not return the next morning, and
It is the contention of the defendant that the .evidence was insufficient to warrant the jury in finding for the plaintiff, asserting that the plaintiff had the burden of proving infidelity on the part of his wife in which the defendant was a participant, and that the plaintiff had failed to sustain
The- evidence in the case at bar amply warranted its submission to the jury.
Exceptions overruled.