Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1858-09-17

course, ms inquiry was into the past only,
and the idea never occurred to him tha;
any combination ef circumstances could
suggest the thought that he could ever be-
come the suitor for hand already the lc-
gal property of another. Whether wild
owed by death, or the law, his pride rcvol-
ted at the idea of marriage with her, and
his prudence forbade it because the cir
cumstances of her marriage with Burton,
whether with, or without her knowledge
and consent, eyinced degree of indiscre-
ton, on her part, too hazardous to his fu-
ture happiness. Whilst thus communing
with himself, his servant entered, and
handed him tho following letter;
DEAR Brother
told you, in my last,
Of the death of Estelle and Burton, by
each others hand of the completely Of
Mrs. Meddler and her arrest, but did not
mention The developments that followed
because | had not then learned them.-
Burton confessed that the marriage certii-
cate, which he showed you, was obtained
by fraud, and that he had used it to make
breach between you and Helen for con-
sideration to be paid by Joe Estelle. This
confession was made to Mr.. Motley who
has the certificate in his possession, and
from him I obtained the facts. You will
remember that | told you, aunt and my
self had cut Helen's acquaintance, ind l
sent you copy of Mrs. Meddler's COM
munication as a proof of the wisdom Of
the course we adopted; but subsequent
events have called in question the propri-
ETY. of our conduct, and am perplexed to
a painful degree. The contents of Bur-
tons trunk prove, incontestibly, that the
poor woman, spoken of in that false and
artful communication, is no other than
the cousin of ours who made runaway
match, and whose husband is the same
Burton who claimed Helen as his wife,
You may imagine my feelings on learning
this fact, but you can not conceive how /
felt when Mr.. Motley gave me the infor-
nation, and accompanied it with a eulogy
upon Helen's virtues, and denunciation
of the persecution that had pursued her,
without ceasing, during the whole time of
her sojourn at this place. He evidently
expected me to acknowledge that I, too.
had wronged her-and perhaps I ought to
have done so, but l did not, because it
seemed TO me that the explanation afforded
by Burtons confession and the subsequent
expose of Mrs. Meddlers falsehood, did
not exonerate Helen from the charge of
grave indiscretion in submitting to mock
marriage with such man, and because
wanted occular proof of the identity of
the woman with our cousin. We parted
with some unpleasant feeling on both
sides, and | set out to satisfy myself on
this latter point. 1t happened, perhaps
unfortunately, that when / entered the
room occupied by the woman and her
child, Helen was there, and witnessed the
mutual recognition that followed. She
was holding the child in her arms, at the
time, and speaking words of comfort to
the mother. Our eyes met, but neither
spoke, and, soon after, Helen laid the
child upon the bed, and took an affection
ate leave of the mother, telling her, at the
same time, that she could not see her
again, as she was preparing to return home
early in the morning, She left without a
look at me, and | saw her no more. AT
supper, l met Mr.. Motley, whose counte-
nance wore an expression of discomfort,
and he announced TO me that he intended
to escort Helen home. | was certain,
from his manner, that he was aware of the
meeting between Helen and myself, and
was offended at the result but not ac-
knowledging his right to shape my con-
duct, and too proud to bend beneath his
frown, l simply wished him a pleasant
journey, and coldly turned away, Before
breakfast, next morning, he left, in COM
pany with Helen and Jane, and the same
day, Mr.. Eskridge returned to Lexington
to prepare for his marriage with Jane Es.
telle, which is to come off in about three
weeks. Mr.. Hart, too, has left, sad, but
not discouraged and intimated to aunt
Whitman that he would yet succeed with
Helen when time had softened her disap-
pointment.
Have I done right, Henry? But
whether right or wrong, | am very unhap
py, and quite indisposed and | sometimes
think that may be wrong, or would not
be so restless and discontented But
enough of this theme, and / now enter
upon another Aunt Whitman has re
ceived letter recalling her to Charleston
her hister is very i'll, and of course, she
must go-and as there is no inducement
for me to remain here any longer, | have
accepted an invitation from gentleman
and his wife to accompany them to Rich
mond, whence can reach home withou
difficulty. i have done this more willing
ly because | am anxious that you shal
prolong your stay in the mountains unit
frost, and obtain the full benefit of you
visit to this salubrious region. | shall
leave in the morning, and you must ad
dress your letters to Norfolk, where W.
shall meet again in a few weeks.-Til
then, adieu
ANN LEE.
p. S. / forgot to say that our cousin