Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1859-12-16
FILTRATION:

81 am not angry, Isabel, but your
words awaken recollections which cause
me to feel sad. Sit down hare BY my
side,. and you shall hear . story Of one
of my own Airtations which may cause
you to change your mind.
Isabel set down, with thoughtful
look, and her aunt continued:
y 81
ssWhen was young, like you, dear |
child, I was quite n gay and Thought
less ~ yourself. / MA cslled CO.
quette, and thought shame to confess
il, I gloried in the name, until the oc-
currence of the event. am about to re-
late"
ssSeveral times . year I used to visit
c. and spend . week or two in
the pleasant society Of that place. There
I frequently met . pale, handsome,
sensitive young man, named Gilbourne,
who paid me very Aattering attentions,
and With whose Partially ! was well
pleased.
:. 81 was warned, by many well-mean-
ing friends, against encouraging the
addresses Of 80 impulsive fellow -
Gilbourne, Who, they said, was more
serious than I, and who might be fall
ing more deeply in love than I expect.
ed or desired. I laughed at the idea,
and finding the attendance of the young
poet still agreeable, continued to en-.
courage him till it IVES too late"
ssToo late How 50, aunt?''
ssWhy, to my astonishment, he one
day made passionate declaration Of
his leve and offered me his hand"
'a5 "And did you love him 20
ssNo, child, Twas merely pleased with
his attentions. But even then / did
not think his love anything more than
the result of . sudden impulse, and
which would pass away with my visit to
c.. So I respectfully declined
his offer, laughed at the idea Of marry
. ng at that age, and begged him to
dismiss the subject from his min ;"
ssOn the following day I left G
and returned homo. Letters and poet
~ followed me, breathing the most
passionate devotion, and burning with
the eloquence Of love. They bore no
name, but knew they were from Hem
~ Gilbourne. I took council with my
friends, and resolved to send all future
epistles back TO him unopened / re-
turned two letters in this manner, and
received no more /; but three or four
weeks after / received . newspaper, in
which there WAS sonnet addressed to
me, under . fictitious name, and signed
with his initials. He had discovered q
new mode Of reaching me with his pas
sionate illusions and from that time .
sonnet Or song, signed H-G-,
came to me from the O. Gazette
nearly every week.
At this time Mr.. Bedford was pay.
ing ne his addresses. He was one Of
natures noblemen-frank, generous,
firm in what he considered right, and .
gentleman in his manners. Having
learned lesson from the unhappy ter
mination Of my last Irritation, | receiv-
ed Mr.. Bedford's attentions in differ
emit manner from what I had been &C.
customed to do, and in q short time We
were married.
The ceremony took place in church.
/ loved Mr.. Bedford. Gilbourne was at
that time quite forgotten, and / was
perfectly happy. i had not thought
to disturb the peace Of my mind-the
calm repcse of my heart which ! hadsoj
willingly, SO gladly given away-until,
as we were passing from the church,
my eyes fell upon wild, haggard fig
ure, standing near the door.
It was Gilbourne. His face was dread
fully pale, his lips ashy, his eyes gleam-
ed with an unnatural brightness, and
he was trembling in every limb. I
started, uttered suppressed cry, and
shuddering, chung to my husbands
arm. A pang went through my heart
"a pang of remorse and dread which l
shall never forget.
! eWhat's the matter % he asked. l
could not reply. but he saw my eye
fixed upon the Raggard object in the
door way, and knew why l shuddered,
or had told him something of my un-
fortunate Irritation.
sis that Gilbourne % he asked.
eyes," murmured.
By this time all eyes were upon the
unhappy man. 1t was not his pale face
alone that attracted attention. His
dress was disarranged, his long, dark
hair fell in disordered locks about his
cheeks, and his garments were covered
with the dust of travel. All eyes were
fixed upon him, and his were fixed up
on me ; and in my alarm and confusion,
I felt the blood at first forsake my
cheeks, then burn in them like FIRE.
"Gilbourne fell back as we approach
ed the door, and as we passed out,
bowed solemnly, with his hand upon
his heart. He was lost from my sight,
but his image, as be stood there in the T
door way of the church, haunted my
brain, and it was many hours before I
could compose myself.
I was beginning, however, to feel
somewhat at home again, in the midst
Of my wedding guests, when domes-
tic came to say that person wished to
see me in the hall. Thinking it was
some invited friend who had arrived at
. late hour, I fastened to the door
alone. Imagine my CONSERVATION when
the wild figure Of Gilbourne stood be-