The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1858-11-24

4
vin,ty that shapes our ends :"
"And So" she answered, "when |
have lost you, | shall have the satisfac-
4 ton of thinking that YOU arc enjoying
still more exquisite consolation for the
slight pangs yon may have felt at parting
with me- Your philosophy will make it
easy for you 10 say Goodbye, it WIS q
lr tty romance; go to find prettier ones
still and then forget me aitagether!'
Aud you, | said, will that be easy for
yeu?"
"Fcs,' she cried with spirit, 'anrthiag
is easy to proud impetuous woman,
who finds that the brief romance of q ten
days acquaintance has already become
| tircsome to tho second party. | am glad
have enjoyed what | have; that is so
much gain Of which you cannot rob mo +;
and now | can sly gnod-bye rs coelly as
you, or can die Of shame, or | can ut
oncs walk over tbs single rail into the
w..ter, and queuch this little candle, and
so an end /"
'sSho sIrang upon a bench, and |
swear to you l thought she was going
down! | was SO exalted by this passion
alto demonstration, that should certain
" have gone ovor with her and felt per-
| fectlv content to die in her arlns-at
| least until | began to realize what very
disagreeable bath we had chosen to die
| in.
Il quickly dr>w her away, AMI
walked up and down with that superb
creature painting and palp;tating almost
upon my heart poured into her heart
| | know not what extrasagaEt vows; and
before the slow handle | sailors had fast
ened their cable to the buoy in the chan
mel, we had knptted a more subtle and
difficult moose, not to be so easily undone!
"Now see what strange, variable fools
wo are! Months of tender intercourse
had failed to bring about anything like
a positive engagement between Margaret
and myself; and here behold me irrevo-
cably pledged to Flora, after brief, ten
! days acquaintance!
"Six mortal hours were exhausted in
making the steamer fast-in sending off
her Majesty's mails, Of which the cock
new speaks with tone af reverence alto
together disgusting to us free-minded
Yankces--and m entertaining the Gus
tom house inspectors, who paid long
tedious visit to the saloons and our lug
gage. Then we were suffered to land,
and entered the noisy solid streets Of
Liverpool, amid the donkeys, and beggars
and strange SCENES which strike the Amer
lean so I'd lIy on first visit. All this
delay, the WEAKNESS and impatienco, the
contrast between the morning and the
hard grim reality of midday, brought
me down from my elevation. | felt Altar
med at what had passed. L seemed to
have been doing some. wild, unadvised
act in fit of intoxication. Margaret
came up before me, sad, silent, reproach-
ful; and as gazcd on t'Iora's bedimmed
face, l wondered how had been 50
charmed
| ''We took the first train for London,
where we arrived at midnight. Two
weeks in that vast Babel-thcn, no! for
Paris! Twelve hours by rail and steam
or carried us out Of John Bulls domin
ions into the brilliant metropolis Of his
French neighbor Joseph accompanied
us, and wrote letters home, filled with
gossip which knew or hoped would
| make Margaret writhe. | hal not found
it SO easy to forget her as | had supposed
it would be. FIora's power over me was
sovereign; but when was weary of the
! Il I'll e II, IA 81, Il
when ! looked into the depths of my
| heart, aud saw what the thin film Of pas
sion AMI pleasure concealed in those Sc
rious moments which would come, and
my soul put stern questions to me- then
Sir then, Margaret had her revenge.
"a mouth Gro sded and glittering with
novelty and incident, preceded our depar-
ture for Switzerland. | accompanied
Flora's party; Joseph remained behind
We left Paris about the middle of June,
and returned in September. l have no
words to speak Of that era in my life. l
saw, enjoyed suffered, learned so much !!
Flora was always glad magnificent irrcsis-
tible. But rs | knew Eer longer my mo-
ments of misgiying became more frequent
aud profound. If | had aspircd to moth
ing higher than life of sensuous delights
she would have been all could wish.
| But
ave were to s; cat the White in Italy.
Meanwhile we had another month in Par
is. Here | had found Joseph again WHO
troubled ne good deal With certain
r,roorc l,o bod roca;l concerning Mar
garet According to these she had been
| in feeble health ever since we left, aud
her increasing delicacy was beginning to
alarm her friends. But, added another
of Josepli's es'rrespon lcn;s, don't let
Westw,ol Ila,ter himself that he is the
clus4. for sh is cured Of him: and there
is talk of an engagement between her and
q handsome Young clergyman, who Is
b 9TH eloquent an ia fascinating.
Tnis bit Of gossip made me very bitter
and angry. Forget me so soon 2 | said !;
'and receive the attentions Ct another
MANI You see how consistent was, to
condemn her for the very fault I had my
self been so eager to commit!
Well, the round of rides, excursions.
soirees, visits to the operas and theatres,
walks on the Boulevard, and in the gale
ries Of the Louvre, ended at last. The
evening we were to set out for the South
Of France, | was at nay lodgings, unpack.
ing aud repacking the luggage which
] had left il Joseph's care during u'y At