Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1858-06-24

meetings, your prolonged interviews o certain
embarrassment have lately noticed in child,
hitherto so frank and fearless her altered
looks and manner--eyen note the demean or
of both when | surprised you-what can |
conclude from such indication 2"
swear to YOU" at length found words
to explain, " that your daughter is wholly aud
/ perfectly innocent Think of me as you will
bat at least believe me in this and assure your
/ self that your child is sinless"
! He looked at me scrutinisingly, for some
seconds then his face and voice relaxed Il
believe you There is but one thing you can
now do, if you are sincere in your wish to re-
pair this evil. Promise me you will never see
Suzanne again, and that You will, as soon as
possible quit this neighborhood"
| promised, and we parted.
How passed that night it needs not now
to tell, nor all the revolution the thoughts it
brought worked in my heart and in my ideas
The immediate result was, that next morning
at dawn | rose from my sleepless bed, and
wrote to the pastor, asking his daughters
hand not concealing the difficulties of nv po-
| stion, but adding that if he would overlook
present and material disadvantages he might
trust that no sin of omission or commission on
my part should ever cause him to regret his
having accorded his sanction to our marriage
and that feared not but that with time, pa
tienCe, and perseverance, / should be able to
secure means Of existence
! At nineteen it is SO easy to dispose of these
! questions of ways and means to obtain eve
rything and to dispense with everything.
The answer came quickly, brought by the
pastor in person
You arc an honest lad" he said I will
not now enter into the question of your youth
and that Of Suzannc my child's reputation
is at stake, and she is deeply attached to you.
That OF your prospects is one We have yet to
discuss but the first subject to be entered
upon and fully explained is the one Of your
| fathers consent to the marriage. In the first
| place, by the law Of France, which is, I be-
lieVe, different to that Of England, no man or
woman, even if OF age, can marry without pro-
! duCing proof of their parents acquiescence.
In the second, even were the law otherwise, |
should hold myself bound for conscience sake,
not to take advantage Of the most desirable
! proposal, if it were made against the wishes
and without the sanction of yours Are you
likely to obtain this Y'
Here was difficulty had neither anticpat-
ed nor provided for | had thrown off all au-
| thority, deeming my own sufficient for my go
vernance and here at the first important cri-
sis of my life, | found its ineffciency to get
me through my earliest difficulty Supposing
| made up my mind tactIy to admit my mis-
| take, and ask nv fathers consent to my mar
rage, was it in the least likely that he would
under all the circumstances, accord it?
Never mind | must make the attempt and
so admitting to the pastor that | had not as
yet provided for such a contingency, he left
me towrite to my father.
\ week of agonising suspense passed, during
which in accordance with promise made 10
Suzanne's father, never sought'to meet her
nay, to avoid shadow of suspicion, never
went to our chestnut WOOL to get a peep of
her in the garden.
At last the letter came, and sick with agita-
tion | tore it open. 1t was brief, grave. some
what stern, but yet not different to what de-
served, and what | expected
Ny father said he had reflected much on my
demand that he saw many reasons why lie
should refuse it, yet hc was SO anxious to meet
my wishes when they pointed to any course
that was not likely to lead me into moral
mischief, aud that afforded me chance of
obtaining steadincss of conduct that if could
provide him proofs of my intended brides
character and position being such as | rcpesen-
ted them he would not withhold his perlns-
sion
This was easily done proud and elatc,
boldly presented myself at the presbytery, aad
within a month, we were married, despite all
the delays and difficulties that the French
laws, which seem especially framed to throw
every possible obstacle, hindrance. and petty
vexa.ion in the way Of the impatient lover,
could find to circnmvent US
look tack now to the time, and see through
my spectaces though little dimmed, now
aud then-not myself, and my Suzanne,
the wife of my youth, as saw her IN those
| days but boy and girl | remember to have
known then. a hopeful, happy, foolish pair /;
brimfui of youth and life and love seeing all
things, each other included, quite other than
they were ; yet 50 confident in themselves, in
their experience, their ideas, their impressions:
living from day to day, like the birds on the
branch, as if all the world were their store
house, and no tomorrow were before them
| Quarrelling and making sweet friends again
fretting about q look or word testing at
questions involving the most important material
interests averted looks and murmured repro
aches over flower presented and lost not
! thought or care for gold squandered.
The place was so endeared to me, and Su-
zanne and her father felt so reluctant to part,
that resolved-my father, who made us a
small, though respectable allowance, not OBJ
I jecting-to SETTLE for time, at ali events, in
the neighborhood of La Rochelle.
! So we too a little house in the midst Of a
garden within five minutes walk of the pres
bytery, and there We set up a household,
served by plump Rochellaise damsel, whoes
clear ssarched capot and gold earrings, heart
and cross, were on Sundays, the admiration of
the place and lad emancipated from sabots,
to work in the garden, and help Mamie in the
rousher occupations Of the house. He fell in