In 1893 there was quite a little row going on at the Tower House, and Russell wrote, in 1894, a pamphlet called "A Conspiracy Exposed" that went into great detail of the persons, grievances, and "bombs" (as he put it) that people tried to drop on him. This pamphlet was distributed, not to all of the friends and subscribers, but only to those that had been around Russell for some time. Why? In his words: "This painful story we have published separate from our regular issues, that if possible only the elder, and it is to be hoped steadfast, readers of the WATCH TOWER may know of it, lest others -- "babes" -- might be 'stumbled.'"
In the course of his expose, he remarks how on Christmas Day 1893 he and the missus had invited close friends for a 6pm dinner, and afterwards, in the parlor, he was engaged in conversation when "Sister R. interrupted me in some trivial matter, and then catching herself asked me to proceed. I replied, 'No, you tell it--you are the head of the house.' This I admit was sarcastic; and seeing that it hurt Sister Russell's feelings and that she at once disclaimed any wrong intent, I excused it, and said that I did not mean it literally, that indeed Sister Russell is a very model wife, etc., and thus the matter ended."
Of course, we all know that they did end up divorced, so I found this later passage in the story very interesting... he truly thought that he and Sister Russell had something special and different from any of the rest of the congregation, even to the point that the natural laws of death ending marriage not applying to them:
Let me here remark, incidentally, that if there are any of God’s married children whose interests are more thoroughly one, and whose esteem for each other is greater than that which exists between Sister Russell and myself, we would be glad for them to have it so; but we have no present reason for so believing. Ours, we feel, is indeed a union in the Lord, which we believe that even death will not sever.
"Isn't that SPECIAL?!" <<-- SNL church lady