Spencer, Og.C.J.

1. This is a suit to recover 12 years arrears of maintenance. The 1st defendant, who was the Zamindar of Vallur, died after the institution of the suit and his sons were brought on the record, as 2nd and 3rd defendants. He married two wives, who were sisters of each other. The plaintiff is the senior wife. She bore two sons and a daughter, but the sons died young. She claimed maintenance at the rate of Rs. 500 per month, for the last 12 years. She was living apart from her husband, for the last 23 years; but, as her claim for more than 12 years maintenance is barred under Article 128 of the Limitation Act, she makes no claim for the remaining eleven years.

2. It appears from Exs. G, G-2, G-3, G-4 and G-9, which are letters written by the Zamindar, that he was fond of his wife at first and grateful to her for letting him marry her sister. In 1890, she went away to Cocanada from Pangidigudem, her husbands residence, but returned. In November 1894, she and her sister both went away to Cocanada taking their children with them. By that time, the Zamindar had brought a concubine named Mahalakshmi to Pangidigudem and, during his absence at Hyderabad, they found pois