The Sun.
London, England, 1830-10-29 00:00:00

THE BROKtN HEART.

(From Blackwood's Magazine.)
There %vas ti gay party assembled one evening/
in the memorable intintli et June, 1815, at a
house in the remote western subildirt of London.
Throngs of handsome and well•dressed vVdtriett
—a large retinue of the leading men about town
—the dazzling of chandeliers blazing like three
suns overhead—the charms of music and dancing
—together
_with that tone of excitement then
pervading society at large, owing to our miccess,
lid continental campaigns, which maddened Eng-
land into almost daily annunciations of victory
—all these circumstances, I say, combined to
supply spirit to every party. In fact, England,
WitS almost turned upside dawn with uniVemal
[king ! Mrs. —, the lady whose party I
have just been mentioning, was in I."l.thyy at the
eclat with which the whole was going effi• ward
charmed with the buoyant animation with which
all seemed inclined to contribute their quota to
the evening's amusement. A young lady of
sonic personal attractions, most amiable manners
and great accomplishments—particularly musical
—had been repeatedly solicited to sit down to
the piano, for the purpose of favouring the corn •
pany with the favourite Scottish air, " The
Banks of Allan Water.- For a long time, how-
ever, she stedfastly resisted their importunities,
on the plea of low spirits. There was evidently
an air of deep pensiveness, if not melancholy,
about her, which ought to have corroborated the
truth of the plea she urged. She did not seem
to gather • excitement with the rest ; and. rather
endured, than shared, the gaieties. of the evening.
Of course, the young folks around her of her
own sex whispered their suspicions that she was
in love ; and, in point of fact, it was well known
by several present, that Miss —• was engaged
to a young officer who had earned considerable
distinction in the Peninsular campaign, and to
whom she was to be united on his return from
the Continent. It need not therefore be won-
dered at, that a thought of the various casualties
to which a soldier's life is exposed—especially a
bold and brave young soldier, such as her in•
tended had proved himself—and the possibility,
if not probability, that he might, alas ! never
" Return to claim ttk bluThing bride,"

—but beleft behind among the glorious throng
of the fallen—sufficed to overcast her mind with
gloomy anxieties and apprehensions. It. was,
indeed, owing solely to the affectionate impor-
tunities of her relatives, that she was prevailed
on to be seen in society at all. Had her own
inclinations been consulted she would have
sought solitude, where she might, withiweeping
and trembling, commend her hopes to the, hands
of Him " who seeth in secret," and " whose
are the issues" of battle. As, however, Miss
rich contralto voice, and skilful powers
of accompaniment, were much talked of, the
company would listen to no excuses or apologies ;
so the poor girl was absolutely baited into sit-
ting down to the piano, when she ran over a
few melancholy chords with an air of reluctance
and displacency. liar sympathies were soon
excited by the fine tones—the tumultuous me-
lody—of the keys she touched—and she struck
into the soft and soothing symphony of " The
Banks of Allan Water." The breathless silence
of the bystanders—for nearly all the company
was thronged Around—was at length broken by
her voice, stealing, " like faint blue gushing
streams," on the delighted ears of her auditors,
as she eminence(' singing that exquisite little
ballad, with the most touching pathos and sitn-
plicity..: She had just commenced the verse,
Fur hid bride a soldier sought her,

And a winning tongue had he! •
when to the surprise of every one around her,
she suddenly ceased playing and singing, without
removing
,her hands from the instrument and
gazed steadfastly forward with a vacant air, while
the colour faded from her cheeks, and left them
pale as the lily. She continued thus for- some
moments, to the alarm and astonishment of the
company-•-motionless, and apparently uncon-
scious of any one's presence. Her elder sister,
much agitated, stepped towards her, placed her
hand on her shoulder, endeavoured gently to
rouse her, and said hurriedly,'" Anne, Anne I
What now is the matter ?"—Miss made
no answer ; but a few moments alter, without
moving her eyes, suddenly burst into a piercing
shriek ! Consternation seized all present.
" Sister—sister 1--. Dear Anne, are you ill ?"
again enquired her trembling sister, endeavour.
ing to rouse her, but in Vain; Miss did
' not seem either to see or hear her. Her eyes
still gazed fixedly forward; till they seemed gra-
dually to expand, as it wire,' with•an expression
of glassy horror. • All present seemed utterly
confounded, and afraid to interfere with her...—.
Whispers were heard, " She is a fit—
' run for some water. Good God, how strange—
what a piercing shriek," &c. At length
Miss lips moved. She began to mutter
inaudibly ; ,but bye and bye those immediately
near her could distinguish the words, " There!
there they are with their lanterns—Olt 1 they are
' looking out for the—de.—a,--ti I—They, turn
over the that little bill
of slain-4ee, see I—they are turning them over,
one by one--. There I—there he isl—Oh, horror !
horror I hoirorl—right through the heart 1"
and with a long shuddering, she fell senseless
into the artns of her. horromtruek 'sheer. Of
course all were in coninsion and dismay, not a
face present but was blanched with agitation
and affright on bearing the extraordinary words
She uttered. With true delicacy anti propriety
of feeling, all albs° whose carriages had hap-
pened to have already arrived, instantly took
their departure, to prevent their presence ember,
rassing or interfering with the family, who were
already,sufliciently bewildered. The room was
soon thinned of all, except those who were im-
mediately engaged in rendering their services. to
the young jady ; and a servant was instantly des-
patched with a horse, for me. On my arrival
found herinled, (still in the house where the
party was given, • which was that of the youag
lady's sistmin.law.) She had fallen into a Ne,
,cession of swoons ever twee she had been carried
up from the drawing-room, and was perfectly,

senseless when I entered the bed-chamber
where she lay. She had not spoken a syllable
since uttering the singular words just related ;
and her whole frame was cold and rigid—in fact,
she seemed to have received some strange shock,
w hich had altogether paralysed her. By the use,
however, of strong. stimulants, we succeeded at
length in restoring her to something like con-
sciousness, but I think it had been better for
her—judging from the event-=never to have
woke her again from forgetfulness. Shy opened
her eyes under the influence of the searching
stimulants we applied, and stared vacantly for an
instant on those standing round her bedside.--
Her countenance, of an ashy hue, was damp with
perspiration, and she lay perfectly motionless,,ex- -
eept when her frame undulated with long deep
drawn sighs.
" Oh,. wretched, wretched, wretched girl !"
she murmured at length—" why hare 1 lived till
now ? Why did you not suffer me to expire ?
Ile called me to join him-1 was going—and
you will nut let me—but I must go—yes, yes."
" Anne—dearest I Why do you talk so ?
Charles is not gone—he will soon return—he
will indeed"—sobbed her sister.

'' Oh, never, never ! You could not s©e
what 1 saw, Jane,"—she shutidered—" Oh, it
was frightful! Ilow they tumbled: about the
heaps of the dead 1:---how they stripped—oh,
horror, horror !"
" My dear Miss —, you are dreaming—
raving;—lndeed you are," said 1, holding her
hand in mine—" Come, come, you must not
give way to such gloomy, such nervous fancies—
you must not indeed. You are frightening your
friends to no purpose?'
" What do you mean ?" she replied, tooling
me suddenly full in the face. " 1 tell you it is
true ! Ah me, Charles is dead--I know
sat, him. Shut right through the heart.-
They welt stripping him, when —" And
heaving three or four short convulsive sobs, she
again swooned. Airm,. --, the lady of the
house (the sister.in-law of Miss---, as I '
think fhave mentioned), could endure the dis-
tressing scene no longer, and was carried out of
the room, fainting, in the arms of her husband.
With great difficulty we succeeded in restoring
Miss once more to consciousness ; but the
frequency and duration of her relapses began se-
riously to alarm me. The spirit, being so often
brought to the ,briek, might at last s► ddenly flit
off into eternity, without any one's being aware •
•of it. I, of course, (lid all that my professional
knowledge and experience suggested ; and, after
expressing my readiness to remain all night in
the house, in the event of any sudden alteration
in Miss for the worse, 1 took my dei;er-
tures promising to call very early in the morn
Mg. Before leaving Mr. -.--- had acquainted
me with all the particulars above related ; and,
as I rode home, I could not help feeling thu
liveliest curiosity, mingled with the most intense
sympathy for the unfortunate sufferer, to see
whether the corroborating event would stamp the
present as one of those extraordinary occurrences
which occasionally " come o'er us like a summer
cloud," astonishing every one.
'1 he next morning, about nine o'clock, I was ,
again at Miss bedsiie. She was nearly
in the same state as that in which I had left her
the preceding evening—only feebler, and a!most
continually stupilied. She seemed, as it were,
stunned with some severe but invisible stroke.
She said scarcely anything, but often uttered a
low, moaning; indistinct sound, and whispered at
intervals, " Yes—shortly, Charles', shortly—to-
morrow." There was no rousing her by conver-
sation ; she noticed no one, and would answer
no questions. 1 suggested the propriety of cal-
ling in additional medical assistance; and in the
evening, met two eminent brother plipicians in
consultation at her Weide. We came to a
conclusion that site was sinking rapidly, anti that,
unless some miracle intervened to restore bar
energies, she would continue with us but a very
little longer. After my brother physiciaes had .
left, I returned to the sick chamber, and sat.by
Miss —'s bedside for more than an hour.
• My feelings were much agitated at witnessing
her singular and affecting situation. There was
such a sweet and sorrowful expression about her
pallid features, deepening, occasionally, into such
hopelesstiees of heart-broken anguish, as no one ,
could contemplate without deep emotion. There
was besides, something mysterious and awing—
something of what in Scotland is called second.
sight—in the circumstances which had occasioned
her illness.

'Gone--gone !" she murmured, with closed
eyes, while I was sitting and gazing, in,silenee on
her, " gone—and in glory ; All I I shall see the '
young conqueror--I shall 1 How he will lova
me ! I recollect," she continued, after a
long interval, "it was the Banks of Allan ,
Water ' those cruel people made me sing—and
my heart was breaking the while I—What vine
was I singing when 1 saw"—she shuddered—
" oh !—this—
" Fur his bride s soldier sought her,
And a winning tongue had he—
On the banks of Allan water
Nan* so gay as she !
But the summer grief had brought her,
Aud the soldier—false was hp".—
" Oh no,. no, never—Charles—my poor murdered,
Charlesl--fiever I" elle groaned, and spoke no,
more that night. She continued' utterly deaf to
'all that was said in the way of :sympathy or Ve-
monstrance; and if her lips moved at. all, it was
only to utter faintly some such words as, " Oh,
let me-let me leave in peace I" • During the
two next days she continued drooping rapidly.
The only circumstance about her demeanour
particularly noticed, leak that she once Moved.
her hands fora moment over the counterpane',
as though she were playing the piano.....] sudden'
flush overspread her leatines—her eyes 'Started,'
AS though she were startled by the appearance of,
some phantom or other, anti she gasped,:" There,.
statether ofre
stupor.afterw which she relapsed into her former
How will it be credited, that on the fourth
morning of Miss —'s illness, a letter was re.
ceived from Paris by her family, 'with a 'black
seal, and franked bitthe noble+
o
the melancholy intelligence that
eltozmimuennitcatiinngwhic °o!ohlaledr:eftvteldla,
the young Captain had towards tWe close
of the battle of Waterloo ; for while in the act
of charging at the, head of his corps a French
cavalry officer shot him with his pistol 'right
Waugh Me heart ! The whole family, with all
their acquaintance, were unutterably shocked at
the news—almOst petrifitswitliitrittonazt,gehienpere:dtoi.ca,-rt,
tilitoens.trainigoewcotrorcibcoormatniolunoicaiNte liar
jet
totitsfrteicfiroe4mrb
itwiel
cin ommunicate it
seriousiatnyatl
oa1:e
at
te stit:iroet‘stve,:ottirhi, whether
that it wouldoll:teltt'illtti:e.
family at last, considering
intelligence, intrust©d the painful duty to me.
I therefore repaired to her bedside alone, and
her pulse, cooittenance, breathing, cold ex-
trenuties....together with the fact that, she he/
taken no nourishment whatever since she hi

been laid on her bed—convinced me that the'
poor girl's sufferings were soon to terminate.
was at a loss for a length of time to break the
oppressive silence. Observing, however, her
fading eyes fixed on me, I determined as it were
accidentally, to attract them to the fatal letter
which I then held in my hand. A fter a while she
-observed it ; her eye suddenly settled on
the ample coroneted seal, and the sight
operated like an electoral shock. She seemed
struggling to speak, but in vain. I now
'wished to Heaven I had never agreed to under-
take the duty which had been imposed upon
me. I opened the letter and looking steadfastly
at her, said, in as soothing tones as my agitation
could command, " My dear girl, now don't
be alarmed, or I shall not tell you what I am
going to tell you." She trembled, and her sen.
eibilities seemed suddenly restored; for her
eyes assumed an expression of alarmed intelli-
gence, and her lips moved about like those of a
person who feels them parched with agitation
and endeavours to moisten them. " This letter
has been received to-day from Paris," I cond.
titled; " It is from Colonel Lord and
brings word that—that—that—" I felt suddenly
choked, and could not bring out the words.
That my Charles is dead—l know it. Did
I not tell you so ?" said Miss —, interrupting
me, with as clear and distinct a tone of voice, as
ever she had in her life. I felt confounded.—
Ilad the unexpected operation of the news I
brought been able to dissolve the spell which
had withered her mental energies, and afford
promise of her restoration to health.
Has the reader ever watched a candle which
is flickering and expiring in its socket, suddenly
shoot up into an instantaneous brilliance, and then
be utterly extinguished ?' I soon saw it was
thus with poor Miss All the expiring
energies of her soul were collected to receive
this corroboration of her vision—for such it may
be called—and then she would,

" Like a lily drooping,
Bow ber bead, and die."
To return : she begged me, in a faultering voice,
to read her all the letter. She listened with
dosed eyes, and made no remark, when I had
concluded. After a long pause I exclaimed—
" God be praised, my dear Miss —, that you
have been able to receive this dreadful news so
firmly l"
44 Doctor, tell me have you no medicine that
could make me weep ? 0 give it me, give it
TIIC ; it would relieve me, for I feel a mountain
on my breast—it is pressing me," replied she
feebly, uttering the words at long intervals.—
Pressing her hand in mine, I begged her to be
calm, and the oppression would soon disappear.
" Oh—oh—oh, that I could weep, Doctor !"
She whispered something else, but inaudibly. I
put my ear close to her mouth, and distinguished
something like the words—,4 I am—l am—call
her—hush—" accompanied with a faint, flutter-
ing, gurgling sound. Alas, I too well under-
stood it. With much trepidation I ordered the
nurse to summon the family into the room in-
stantly. Her sister Jaue was the first that en-
tered, her eyes swollen with weeping, and seem-
ingly half suffocated with the effort to conceal
her emotions.

" Oh, my darling, precious, precious sister
Anne !" she sobbed, and knelt down at the bed.
ride, flinging her arms round her sister's neck-z;
kissing the gentle sufferer's cheeks and mouth.
Anneb.lovel—darling!—Don't you know
me ?" Sire ,;groaned, kissing her forehead re-
peatedly:"'could' help weeping ? All who
bad entered were standing around the bed, sob-
hing, and in tears. I kept my fingers at the
wrist of the dying sufferer; but could not feel
whether or not the pulse beat, which, however, I
attributed to my own agitation.
44 Speak—speak—my darling Anne 1 speak
to me ; I am your poor sister Jane 1" sobbed the
agonized girl, continuing fondly kissing her
sister's cold lips and forehead. She suddenly
started—exclaimed, " Oh, God, she's dead !"
and sunk instantly senseless on the floor. Alas,
alas, it too true ; my sweet and broken-
hearted patient was no more !