The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-09-24

/ " 1t shall be yours, she replied wildly
and the feeling Of life and consciousness
again gushed through her heart. But she
sank on my breast, and sobbed-
My father o my father" "
Your father is Sir Peter Blakely' :
friend" replied /, "and be will not break
the pledge he has given hun, With bis
return, Catherine, my hopes and life perish
together. Now only can you save yourself,
now only can you save me Fly with me,
be mine, and your fathers blessing will not
be withheld. Hesitate now, and farewell
happiness"
She hastily raised her head from my
breast, she stood proudly before me, and,
casting her bright blue eyes upon mine,
with a look Of piercing inquiry, said
Edward, what would you have me TO
DO Deep as my love for you i, and |
blush not to confess it, would you have me
to fly with you accompanied by the tears Of
blighted reputation, followed by the groans
and lamenta ons Of heartbTOken father,
pointed at by the finger Of the world az an
outcast Of human frailty? Would you
have me to freak the last cord that binds
to existence tie only being to whom l am
related on earth, for whom have | but my
father? My hand | shall nerer give to
another but | cannot, | will not leave my
father house If Catherine Forester has
gained your lore, she shall not forfeit your
esteem. | may droop in secret, Edward,
as a bud broken on its stem, but | will not
be trampled on in public as worthless
weed"
Nay, my beloved, mistake ME not, "
returned J, Z" hen the lamb has changed
nature with the wolf, then, but not till
then, could | breathe a thought, a word in
your presence, that | would blush to utter
at the gate Of Heaven. Within two days,
your father and bis intended son-in-law will
return, and the fathers threats and tears
will subdue the daughters purpose. Cath
crime well be a wife, Elwarl "a
Speak not impiously," she cried, i'm
ploringly, what, what can we dc "
1.-The present moment only is left us, "
replied |. d" To night, become the wife of
Edward Fleming, and happiness will be
ours"
Her pulse stood still; the blood rushed
into her face and back to her heart, while
her bosom heaved, and her checks glowed
with the agony Of incertitude, as she re-
solved and re resolved.
But wherefore should ! tire you with
recital of what you already know. That
night, my Catherine became my wife. For
few months her father disowned Us but
when the fortunes Of the Prince began to
ripen, through his instrumentality we were
again received into bis favor Yet | was
grieyed to hear, that, in consequence Of our
marriage, Sir Peter Blakely's mind had
become affected for, while | detested him
as a rival, ! was compelled to esteem him
as a man.
But now, Lewis, comes the misery Of my
story. You are aware that, before | saw
ny Catherine, was ruined man. Youth
fnl ndiscretions-bu why call them indis-
cretions rather let me say my beadlong
sius-before had well attained the aga Of
manhood on.fihutod ~ saderrnin" -
estate, and the unhappy political contest
in which we were engaged had wrecked y
still more. | had ventured all that my
follies had left me upon the fortunes of
Prince Charles. You know that bought
arms, | kept men ready for the field, |
made voyages to France, | assisted others
ID their distress and, in doing all this, |
anticipated nothing less than an earldom,
when the Stuarts should again sit on the
throne Of their fathers. You had more
sagacity, more Of this worlds wisdom
and you told me was wrong that | was
involving myself in a labyrinth from winch
might never escape. But | thought my
self wiser than you | knew the loyalty
and the integrity Of my own actions, and
with me, at all times, to feel was to act.
| had drag ged ruin around me, indulgng
in a vague dream Of hope and now | had
obtained the hand Of my Catherine, and |
had not the courage to inform her that she
had wed that of ruined man.
1t was when you and | we're at the Uni
versity together, that the spirit Of gambling
threw is deceitful net around me, and my
estate was sunk to half its value ere | was
of age to enjoy it; the other half | had
wrecked in idle schemes for the restoration
Of the Stuarts When, therefore, a few
weeks after our marriage, | removed with
my Catherine to London, | was a beggar,
bankrupt, living in fashionable misery.
| became a universal borrower, making
new creditors to pacify the clamours Of the
old, and to hide from my wife the wretched-
ness of which | had made her a partner.
Aud. 0 Lewis, the thought that she should
discover our poverty, was to me perpetual
agony. 1t came over the fondest thrOb-
bings of my soul like the echo of. funeral
bell, for ever pealing its sepulchral boom
through the music Of bridal joy. ! cared
not for suffering as it might affect myself
but could not behold her suffer, and suffer
for my sake. heard words of tenderness
fall from her tongue, in accents sweeter than
the melody Of the lark's evening song, as it
chirming descends to fold its wings for the
night by the side of its anxious mate.
beheld her smiling to beguile my care, and
fondly watching every expression Of my
countenance, as a mother watches over bel
sick child and the half concealed teal
following the smile when her efforts proved
unavailing and my heart smote me tha
she should weep for me, while ber tears, be-
smiles, and her tenderness, added to my
anguish, and | was unable to say in my
heart, " Be comforted.'' 1t could not b,
affection which made me desirous Of conceal
ing our situation from her, but weakness
which makes us unwilling to appear befor
each other as we really are.
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TO BE CONTINUED.
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