Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1867-05-24
A wOMAN'S LOVE.
BY WILBUR CARLTON.

1T caRnot De, 90 not love you, MT. biaca-
stone" and the young lady spoke the words
| as calmly as though she were not deciding
question Of vital Importance 10 the future Of
the man who had placed his all at her feet,
craving only her acceptance to make him the
happicst Of men.
Fredrick Blackstone had spent four months
in devoted attention to the whims and capri
ces of Miss Trcsholm, who had accepted the
attentions as q most natural compliment to
her beauty, and even when the world rcprov-
ed the reception of such marked devotion
without an engagement existing she had
| never given him any reason to think that
there was even q possibility that she would
refuse his love when he sould avow il. Lured
to his fate by her bright eyes, and caring
, nothing for criticism on his conduct SO long
| as she smiled upon him, he had basked in the
light Of her preference, and when he found
that no mortal could endure the torture Of un.
certainty longer, he had thrown himself at
her feet and asked her to give him her heart
for the wealth Of love he had bore her; the
result we know.
So undsguisAd had been her apparent
lkeing for him, it had never entered into
his head that she could rejec, him, and when
the blow fell it crushed him the more that il
was unexpected.
Florence Tresholm was the daughter Of an
immensely wealthy man who left no whim or
, fancy of his daughter ungratifed, deprived of
mothers care and influence before it had
bad chance TO make n marked effect upon
her character, she had grown up in the belief
that everything should be subscrvient to her
wishes, and, careless of the feelings of others.
she accepted from the opposite sex the homage
which they always pay to beauty, and this
was not the first instance where she had won
heart only TO wreck it.
God forgive you Florence, for this blow you
have dealt me; and grant that you may never
know the agoay of unlequited love- 1t is
pardonable that his voice trcmbed and his
frame quvcrcd under the shock that came to
him, when he learned that the love he had
brought himself to. believe was AL in life
worth living for was to him sealed book"
the bright peges of which he could never scan;
Il am going away from yon, and from the
scenes which lave been so dear to me, to find
such relief MS may in another land, where
each spot Of ground will not remind me of
what | have loved and lost
You must not leave nc in anger, Mr..
blackstone; have perhaps beea indiscrect in
allowing this affair to 60 80 far, but never
dreamed it would come 10 this: would have
spared You this sorrow for the sake Of our
friendship and the proud little beauty
looked into the eyes that had beamed so
brightly but moment before as he told her
of the love that filed his soul with holy hap.
pness, and saw that they were suffuscd with
tears. "pont lie angry Fred you will soon
find some one who will more than fill nv
place to you and then you will thank me for
having refused to be your wife; should not
suit you, | am too fond of selfish pleasure in
which you could not share, and l would be a
burden rather than a blessing such as
wife should be to YOU
What folly to attempt to tell a man who
loves you better than his life, that you are not
all sufficient for his happiness. Though in
time he may come to agree with you, you at
tempt an utter impossibility in urging his
belief therein in the moment when he feels
only the power you have at the time, Of max,
ing him snpremely happy or miserably
wretched, by a singla word
You have taught me lesson, Miss Tres
holm, had hoped never to learn from your
your lips that your sex are no less false than
fair, would 20 God could blot from memory
the remembrance Of the fact that from the
lips dearest on earth to me, have learned
my hardest lesson, in this life it is given to
your sex to be the arbiter of the happiness Of
ours, and yet you trac as relcntlessly with
our hearts as if they were but toys given you
for your amusement. But we are prolonging
unnecessarily an interview l wish had never
taken place. will only say goodbye, and
leave you.''
The outward voyage of the Scotia from
New York, took from his native shores one
who looked upon life now as curse rather
than thing to cling to and desire, deter,
mined not to remain in association with obs
jccts that constantly reminded him Of one SO
tickle as she who had rejected his proffered
love. Fredrick Blackstone was about TO
make himself a voluntary exile from home
till he had conquered the passion that had
been his very existance for four months of
unalloyed pleasure, but whose conclusion had
wrecked him, as he thought, for all time.
Blessed with princely fortune he started
for tour in Europe limited as to duration
and expense only by his own inclinations, it
is not surprising that in eighteen months our
hero found himself questioning himself as to
how he could ever have been SO foolish as to
have wasted his thoughts upon woman who
did not return his love, aud at ive>and twen-
ty we find him returning to his native land
entirely cured of the penchant that drove him |
thence.
In a crowded room, surrosndcd by admirers |
no less infatuated than had been himself, Fred |
Blackstone saw, for the first time since his
return, the woman for fancicd love Of whom |
he had spent so long time in foreign land
II am glad to see you home again, Mr.. !
Blackstone said a voice once too dear to be !,
easily forrotton. as she extended delicate ,