Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1858-10-08


Mr.. Motley thought differently, howev.
er, and Offering his arm to Helen, for q
promenade along the gravel-walk, by
moonlight, thus addressed her, in serious
tone:
"Helen, tomorrow, you and Mr.. Lee
are to part, and it is needless to diguise
the fact, that the prospect of final sepa.
ration causes you both acute pain. As a
friend, then, deeply solicitous for your
happiness, ask you to reflect seriously
whether you act wisely in adhering to a
resolution which is wringing your own
heart whilst it inficts upon bis a pang
perhaps greatly disproportiOned to his Of
fence.'
81 know that you are my friend" she
replied, Sand I have the utmost confidence
in your judgment But this is a matter,
the decision of which depends upon cir
cumstances that can properly be weighed
by myself only. Think, sir, what would
be my feelings, should /, at any future
day, be reminded, by him, that the suspi-
cions which have taken SO deep hold up
on his mind, had not been eradicatedi AS
his wife, I should have to submit to the
bitter taunt, and with an aching heart,
drag out an existence, embittered, and
without remedy
"The case you have supposed" he an
swered, "is not likely to occur, and in an
ticipating it, you display want of conf
dcnce in him which he does not manifest
towards you, He once believed you a
hardened coquette, and SO great was his
antipathy to that character, that he was
inclined to believe no woman could be
trusted who had ever acted it. But your
after conduct disabused him of that error,
and after repeated relapscs, under circum-
stances we'll calculated to shake his faith
in your reformation, truth prevailed, and
his confidence is now too firmly establish-
ed ever again to be shaken. And whilst
he is giving you the best possible proof of
his disposition to do justice to the purity
of your motives and the strength of your
will, you are giving him evidence equally
strong that you-haye po confidence in his
honor and sincerity. You confessed to
him that you had been heartless coquette,
but he believes you can never again be in
duced to be otherwise than sincere and
considerate in your department under all
circumstances. He confcsses to you that
he has done you great injustice under Pc
culiar circumstances, but you still believe
that he will ever be suspicious, and even
SO unmanly as to reproach you for faults
long repented of and, by him, forgiven.
Is this fair dealing, Helen p
"Mr. Motley, am not in frame of
mind for the discussi on of question of
Were 1 to consult my feel
lngs alone, you would have had no cause
to chide me for the resolution you con-
denim as unwise. My heart seconds your
appeal with all the warmth Of love that
has become part of my very being; but
when l remember how honestly / have
striven to repair past errors, by acts as
we'll as words-when l remember the sneer
Of contempt that has, more than once,
rewarded those effects, am convinced
BY pride, it may be-that it can not be
wise to form more intimate connection
with him who repaid all my candor with
,old supicion."
"And yet you love him still, Helen !"
"I have just confessed it," she replied.
"That fact, then, should convince you,'
he answered, "that your resolution is un-
wise, and that it results more from woun-
led vanity than woll-reasoned conviction.
Had Mr.. Lees conduct been dictated by
heart depraved, or mind incapable of
the workings of yours-had
he, in short, proven himself unworthy of
your love, contempt, or hatred would have
aiken its place in your heart. But your
'lear intcllect-unconsciously to yourself
admitted the suficiency of the causes,
which Influenced him, for the effects that
'ollowed, and hence your unabated res
oect for his high moral and intellectual
malities. and the continuance of the love |
% which those qualities had given birth.
Helen seemed to weigh the force of the
remark before yenturing reply, and had
ust opened her lips, in the act of speak
ng, when her father recalled her to the
oarlor to take seat at the piano. A more
lnwelcomc request could hardly have been
preferred, but she complied without hesi-
81. onnloou an1 NJ "a xubn lnuad /