New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1852-01-31

r''' ~ IN iua 'ofce Ihe moment he saw her again.
ne e. soon feil desperately and seriously in love
with her. Mary's strong and gentle character
assumed great influence over his merc,1rial and
lmPetnons disposition. That she became deeply
attached to him, was nothing wonderful; she
scarcely colld have helpedit, even if he had not
sought to win her affections
| In n short time he made proposals Of marriage
! for her to her father, who willingly consented,
feeling, if the truth must be told. ye,v ro,1cb
fiattered at the prospect of such q son law
Henry Pollexfen then wrote dutifu letter to
his own father, telling him how much he was in
love, and how earnestly he desired permission to
follow his inelinations. Old Mr.. Pollexfen had
like many other, fathers, set his heart upon his
son making a brilliant match, and although.
after consulting the ss History Of Yorkshire, E
where he found honorable mention made Of the
Chambellan family, lie could offer no objections
on the score of birth, yet he thought his son
might do better. He was too wise to make any
direct opposition; on the contrary, he gave his
conditional consent. only STIMULATING for time.
he required that twelve months should elapse
before the marriage took place, when his son
would be little more than two-and- twenty,
whilst Mary would be not quite nineteen. He
wrote paternal letters to Mary and polite
epistles to her father. He even appEedl to
headquarters for leave of absence for his son,
whom he Immediately summoned to London,
where his own duties as member of Parliament
would detain him for some time.
ondef any other circumstances, Can't. Pollex-
fen would have been delighted with this arrange
| ment; but as it was, he would infinitely have
preferred being allowed to marry Mary at once.
However. there was no help for it. Old Mr.
Chambellan himself urged the duty of imrne
date obedience to his fathers summons, and
Pollexfen departed
For many weeks his letters were as frequent
as the post would carry them. He was very
miserable under the separation, and, much as
she loved him, Mary could not wish him to be
otherwise. His regiment was soon ordered
abroad. The necessary hurry of preparation, and
the order to join his detachment at Canterbury
| without delay, rendered it impossible for Capt
Pollexfen to see Mary before his departure He
wrote her a tender farewell, sent her his pic
ture, and exhorted her to write frequently, and
never to forget him for a moment, promising, of
course, everlasting constancy for himself
There was little chance that Mary should for
get him in that old lonely house, without either
friends or neighbors Besides, the possibility Of
her ceasing to love her afianced husband never
occurred to. her. With Capt. Pollexien it was
different Under no circumstances was his
character that would bear absence unchanged :;
and the distraction of foreign scenes, and The
excitement of his profession, soon banished she
image of Mary from his mind. At length he
felt it great bore that he was engaged to be
ma ASa. TefHdtlel Sixteen
| absent, and he heartily hoped that she would
have forgotten him ,..-.a t:.. +"
Mary father. died shortly after her lovers
departure. The family property descended to her
brothers, and she was. left entirely dependent
upon them. Capt. Pollexfens letters had en-
tirely ceased; Mary had received no communi-
cation for more than six months when she saw
the return of his regiment announced and he
gazetted as Colonel. He, however, neither came
to her NOR yy,otn tn hnr nd Mary hoca, M
seriously ill. She could conceal no longer her
spferings from her brothers. Under the i'm
preston that she was actually dying, they wrote
to her lover, demanding the cause of his silence,
| and telling him of her situation. Col. Pollexfen
was conscienee-stricken by the letter. He de-
clared to the brothers that he intended to act as
| became a man of honor. and wrote to Mary with
something of his old affection, revived by re-
morse; excusing his past silence, begging for
giveness, and promising to go down and see her,
the instant he could obtain leave of absence
Under the influence of this letter Mary re
vived; but the impression made upon her future
husband soon passed away-he daily felt less
inclination to perform his promise He was lily
| ing in the midst of fashionable society, and was
more courted than ever, since by the death of his
tather he had come into possession of his fortune.
| He began to feel that he had decidedly thrown
| himself away; and by a most unnatural tran
sition he hated Mary for her claims upon him,
and considered himself very ill-used victim.
Marys brothers finding that Colonel Pollexfen
did not follow his letter, nor show any signs Of
fulfilling his engagement, would not submit TO
any more triAing. The elder made journey
to London and demanded satisfaction, with the
intmation that the younger brother would claim
the same right when the first affair was termi
minated
Colonel Pollexfen was not of course, afraid Of
having even two duels on his hands at once; he
had already proved his courage too we'll to allow
a suspicion of that sort His answer was char
| acteristie. He told young Chambellan that he
was quite ready to meet both him and his bro
ther, but that he was under a previous engage
| ment to marry their sister, which he wished to
perform first, as otherwise circumstances might
| occur to prevent it; he should then be quite at
| their service, as it was his intention to quit
| the bride at the church door, and never to see
her again.
| The brothers looked upon this rs a pretext to
| evade the marriage altogether, but resolved,
| after some deliberation, to accept his proposal.
They had great difficulty in prevailing upon their
| sister to agree to their wishes; hut they none
| of them seriously believed that he would carry
out his threat, and Mary fancied that all danger
| of a duel would be evaded. A very liberal set
tlement was drawn up by Colonel Pollexfen's
direction which he signed and sent to the BRIDES
| family. On the day appointed, Mary and her
brothers repaired to the church; a travelling
chariot and four horses stood at the door. On
entering, they found Colonel Pollexfen pointing
| out to the friend who accompanied him the
monuments belonging to the Chambelan family.
AS soon as he perceived them, he took his place
| at the altar, and the ceremony commenced with
out delay. As soon as it was concluded, he
bowed with great politeness to all present, and
said, g You are all here witnesses that | have
performed my engagement " Then, without even
looking at his bride, he quilted the church, and
accompanied by his friend, entered the car
riage which was in waiting, and drove rapidly
away! Mary was carried senseess from the
church, and for several weeks continued danger
ously ill.,
The real lstrength of her character now showed
itself. She made no complaint; she did NOT
even assume her husbands name, but took the
| appellation OF Mrs. Chambcllan. The settle
nent was returned to Colonel Pollexfen lawyer
with an intimation that it would never be
claimed. She stilled the anger of her brothers
and would not endure a word to be said against
her husband. She never alluded to him herself
A great change came over her; she did not
seem to suffer nearly so much from her cruel po-
siton as might have been expected her melan-
choly and depression gave place to steady de-
termination of purpose. In the brief space dur
| ing which she and her husband had stood be-
fore the altar, she had realized the distance
that existed between their positions in hte With
! a Nv un1ar