The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1876-10-20
AwpAw, MICH, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1876.

/ see cold, polished, fashionable wo-
man of the world, plunged and absorbed
in the exciting whirl of society-no:hing
left of the old, playful, impetuous, inno-
cent girl who won me-seeming to care
nothing of me nor my desires, should
they happen to conflict with the demands
of society worshiping fashion first,
and placing everything in her affections
before the man she truly loved. 1t is q
bitter awakeningi My belief in human
nature is shattered. think we had bet
ter part we can never make each other
happy-our tastes, our ideas, our re-
quiremeHts are too different. What
pleases me most is your Oete nOir and
of all things, q fashionable existence is
the most distasteful. Oh, my darling,
my darling Why is it so9 Why are
you not the fresh girl of 17g Why did
lever leave you2 But, alas what is the
use of complaining9 We are what we
are, and it is useless to mourna"
And the strong man dropped back in
the chair, with q dry sob in his throat.
Her face had grown very pale, her
eyes had lost their mocking expression,
and she seemed transformed from the
lazy, nonchalant, exasperating creature
of few moments before, who had
drawled out her words with such insult
ferable accent. She sat upright with
her eyes fixed before her, her
hands clasped in her lap, and began in
low, quiet tones, yet with an undercur-
rent of passion
Frank, you are not just-you are
not fair. You are bitter, and say things
you will some day repent. Since you
have called up the past, let me do so
also-let me, perhaps, explain much
that to you seems wrong, and then, after
you have patiently heard me-then, if it
seems to both of us that we had better
part-why, then, we can bid each other
good-by at least, with faint smile, in q
quiet, untragic manner-and-and drift
apart. The world is large enough for
both to live in, without bitterness. Don't
interrupt me, please; let me tell my
story in my own way. You know you
say I'm willful, so yield to me. Three
years ago, when we-when we k'aeaO each
other, was, as you say, fresh, inno-
cent girl of II. You were my first love,
my first hero on you 1 poured the
whole wealth of young heart. 1 lived
in heaven when you were with me, and
that summer was a long dream of de-
light, an idyllic poem, a bit of Ma
homet's paradise. We had faults, as
you say. If I was obstinate, you were
impetuous, exacting, jumping hastily
into conclusions-a fiery, uncomfortable
boy but, with it all, so loving, so ten
der And then we really tried to soften
the asperities in our characters, to be-
come like unto each other, to under
stand and condone each others faults
and weaknesses, and to help each other
to be better. All we were enthusiasts
in those days we dreamed of love in a
cottage, of Utopia in which we would
live perfect life. Well, you had to
leave me, and 1 settled down from
romance to the prosaic business of life,
cheered only be our frequent letters. 1
was very happy for while-I think I
remained about the same girl you left
me-and then-and then-you know my
mother died."
"Poor little Nellyl" Was it whis-
PERI He had not moved, and she did
not look at him.
"Well, after those weeks of gloom I
came to live with auntie, and then began
another kind of life. She was one of
the leaders in fashionable society, and 1
was forced into it. Of course the first
year was quiet but then was caught
In the vortex, and at first / was intoxi-
Gated. We went everywhere night
after night spent in rounds of fashion
able dissipation L became fashiona-
BILE butterfly, with no higher
thoughts or pirations-except when l
thought of you-than dresses, jewels,
balls, parties and operas. had a feel
ing you would not altogether approve
of it, and so said nothing in my letters.
After a while it palled upon me, and
became surfeited; but still 1 must keep
it up-when you have once commenced.
there is no escape, no chance to stop.
Aunt enjoyed it to the uttermost. She
found the care and superintendent OF
the house more than she could under
take, and still live up to the demands of
fashion. So, gradually, 1 became almost
the lady of the house. She resigned all
details to me, and hence it is am
charged with all the care, the amusement
and entertainment of the guests. Be-
ieve me or not, the artificial life has
grown very wearisome to me. But que
Voulez- vo,tsf / have had to live it,
and it has changed me, apparently,
great deal. I have never felt it so much
as while you were talking. But I do
not believe nay mind or my heart has
been warped by it. You do not like my
manner, and you judge of me by my SUI
perfcial appearance. We meet almost
as strangers. Three years of absence,
just at the most critical period of our
lives, has had the effect of making new
people of us, and we have not yet had
time to get acquainted. We should learn
again, as we once did, to bear and for.
bear. We have both of us expected to
find our old friends, and we have
both been disappointed. But shall
this part us2 Shall all those old vows
be as though unspoken9 Shall three
years devotion to an ideal go for naughta
Have we drifted 80 far asunder we can
never be reunited2 Are we each to live
out our destinies alone and apart All,
dear what shall it be2 Shall we say
good-by2 Gan we have no charity for
each other failings2 Has the past