New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1853-07-20
able; but he is my father. Bear with him,

|
then, dear Nina, for my sake"
| But that was in the early months Of welded
life, when the voyagers ON Lifes river see ne-
ther the sunshine nor the shade, unless they be
reflected in each others eyes
| But the time, alas came, when the harsh
word and the lowering brow continued un-
changed, and Leon was no longer there to sup
port her by his sympathy and Kindness.
The world she had found SO dull and insipd
had opened upon him some brilliant pano-
rama, and from a delighted spectator he had
| become an actor in the gorgeous pageant; and
the tinsel, and the glare, and the glitter blinded
him to the failing health and strength Of his
unhappy wife. 1t was by slow degrees, must do
him the justice to say, that he perceived what
the world was dinning in his ears, that he had
committed folly by marrying so far beneath
his own condition. but when that conviction
once arrived, it did not increase Nina's felicity
to see him watching anxiously her every motion,
and blushing with shame if she neglected or in
fringed some one Of the many observances which
etiquette exacts with such tyrannic rigor from
her votaries.
He was not unkind, in words at least. but his
frequent absence became more protracted, his
coldness more marked when they did meet.
DE Soils seemed to find diabolical satisfac-
ton in seeing his son plunged in vortex of dis
sipation, and Nina, reused at last to Indignation
heard him say "Poor boy, it is that unlucky
VI HIS WHICH Tulitu uiUl ne tries
to lose the sense Of his degradation by these
pernicous courses
Anger, grief, and modification lent his hearer
courage, and for the first time De Soils quailed
before the bitter reproaches, the passionate elo-
quence Of the wronged and miserable girl.
But this was but a temporary flash, and the
. fair wild flower Of the Mermentau pined amid
the hotbed Of society for the fresh breezes, the
/, refreshing dews, the glad sunshine, the kind
words and loving looks of her native home.
C Take me back Leon,' she said, after sud-
5 den attack of illness (now too frequently which
had warmed her truant husband into somewhat
) Of his former affection Take me back to my
, home for here the houses are so high, the
streets so narrow, that | cannot breathe freely
1 A few weeks Of the air Of the Mermentau will
restore me-
; ''But, | cannot accompany you now, Nina y
said Leon, and he was ashamed to meet her eye
! as he spoke, for the trifing engagements which
: occupied every hour of his time were sorry
excuse to his own conscience for neglecting the
t woman to whom, Independent of her rights as @
8 wife, he owed his very life
:, And Nina turned her face towards the wal
# and sighed heavily Did the recollection of hel
; heroic efforts in behalf of the man who now be
d grudgcd her few hours of his time, sadden hei
s mind: We think not: for no woman would owe
y to gratitude what she had failed to obtain from
:, q waning love.
No; she had but sowed the seed of an idola
r trous affection, and she was now reaping the
+ bitter harvest of neglect and disappointment
r Unalterable is the Eternal mandates 'Thoy
e shalt make unto thyself no IDOLS
Q "Then, Leon" said she, at last; 81 will q
d alone. You will at least come for me ~
n Certainly" said he, charmed to have ESCAPED
e so easily; &c You will take your best servant,
o and he proceeded rapidly to enumerate all thu
1t little comforts which should be provided for he
e journey.
e "Not so, Leon" answered she, &c | came unat
'e tended, and | will depart as came" &c Not a
= came" whispered Memory, :" for all my happ,
; hopes my bright visions, the tender affection
e which watched my every look-where are they !:
|. 'Be it as you wish, Nina said her husband
t, touched with remorse at the expression of dee
is sadness which rested on her features. s'Only
e, when | come for you in fortnight, let me fin
e my rose blooming as freshly as when, yea
d ago, bore it from its native soil"
}, De Soils took leave of his daughter-in lay
ID with more kindness than he had manifested
r during her whole soiourn under his roof He
D. uncomplaining grief, her undertaking gentleness
is had in some measure thawed the icy barrier O
1t pride behind which he had intrenched himself
id The honest Indignation, too, with which she ha
y repelled his unjust aspersions won need Q
re appreciation from his prejudice which life G
meekness and endurance would have failed t
le obtain
X 1t showed she was not destitute of species G
I'd pride which De Soils had persuaded himself wa
Sc incompatible with ignoble birth.
er He looked pityingly into her wan face, lai
re his hand kindly on her head, and Nina, moved
er and grateful for this one touch of sympathy
pressed the hand to her lips, and forgot and fol
to gave the hours of anguish he had made her en-
III dure, and which were forever cancelled by thi
e. look and gesture of human feeling
n During the first weeks after her arrival q
Id the Mermentau, Nina visibly improved. 1t wa
ID winter; but, in that mild climate, there are fe
of days in which outdoor exercise may not be pur
sued, and she felt almost child-like gratifica
m ton in revsiting every little nook endeared
lis memory and association.
e. And then, at the close of the fortnight whic
t, had been appointed for her -then-then wa
ct the hope Of seeing Leon-Leon, who had bee
S so affectionate when they parted-who had S
faithfully promised not to linger one hour longt
id in the city than his business required She te
+, she would never be unhappy again il she coul
y, only see him,
IN All, Hope! we'll hast thou been styled = tt
ty Mirage of Life" Thou, the first bubble whiC
H. floats before the admiring eyes Of intancy-tf
It's last illusion that attends US to the grave-onl
y, true art thou beyond the tomb, when, with
steady ray caught from the radiant coronet
no Faith, we see thee glow and sparkle before Il
to open portals of Paradise,
o. When the appointed fortnight, which was
Mt bring Leon, heightened to a month, and TIL
ny month wore away, the hope which had burn,
ed in Nina's bosom with a self sustaining flam
n now only rose titfully at the sight of some vess
to which by chance would cast its anchor near Il
5 river,
ir AT last, a letter from her husband arrived,
a. which the writer seemed to begrudge the tir
ld spent on his few hurried lines; spoke of un
voidable delays, which Nina knew were falls
ne and protracted her stay to an indefinite perio
ed Then she felt that she was indeed forgotten a
or uncared for, and whilst she scorned herself t
n, the weakness OF her grief she no longer struggl
!" against the malady which was withering t
ks very springs of lite.
The perfect form wasted from its fair propo
'n tions. The pale and hollow cheek told t
nd plainly the blight which had fallen upon ii
lie, fragile flower, and she was visibly passing aw
he under the icy touch of that rare, but neural
les malady-a broken heart. Day by day her fe
a BILE footsteps waxed fainter and slower; but,
a, obedience to some unconscious impulse, tn
Its were directed to the great oak in the COY
There she would lay for hours and the spr
a. from the river must have reached very far,
d. when she arose from her recnmbent posti(
en- the herbage her head had pressed was wet, a
li- bright drops sparkled like diamonds On its ii
er. leaves.
er But one bright Spring morning, when
ess fresh grass gave forth its dewy fragrance, VII
en- the violet and wild lilac neened ont from evs