The herald., 1894-08-09
BOUND BY AN OATH.

Mrs. st. Evremond, Pandora Road,
Shepherds Bush, to Arthur Prius,
ESQ.,, Barrister at Law, Middle Tenn
pie, July /, 1889:
DEAR Mr.. PRIUs-My dear child has
acquainted me with your very flattering
proposal, and I am grieved to the heart
that I cannot say to you, ''Take her and
be happy" Had foreseen the danger
Of your valued friendship for her ripen-
ing into love l should have told you
earlier what it becomes my melancholy
duty to say to you now-your career IS
an insuperable objection to the mar
rage She can never become the wife
of barrister.
OF course / am aware that it is ex-
ceptional for an actress mother to re-
fuse her blessing on grounds like these
Il know that it is my little Nellie's
profession and not your own which is
more usually esteemed an obstacle-but
when you have heard my explanation
you will admit its force and exonerate
me, am sure, from any suspicion of
GOODNESS or indifference.
am bound by deathbed oath
When I married my late husband, he,
like yourself, was at the bar. / was an
unsophisticated girl at the time-in ap-
pearance much what my Nellie is today
but while she, as q popular ingenue,
is in receipt of substantial income,
was penniless and dependent on his
support.
He had no influence; his struggles
were pitiful
l will not weary you with the tale Of
the misery we endured. His talent,
given no chance to display itself, was, l
have often thought, a misfortune rather
than a boon. He, who should have taken
silk at five and thirty and risen to the
bench 10 years later, was forced to toll
far into the night in order to earn a
guinea fee. Conscious of his ability and
oppressed by the sight of the wretched-
ness he had inflicted on the wife he
loved and the daughter who had sprung
from the union, he lost spirit and
health. Morose and disappointed, his
last illness came almost as release,
but before he died he made me take q
solemn VOW. 1t was that his child should
never be given to member of the legal
profession.
You may reply that you are succeed
ing; that your means are sufficient for a
young couples simple wants-that does
not free me from my sacred undertake
\ ing Mr. Prius, it can never be. And
} trust to you, appeal to your good feel
ing and your honor, to abstain from
seeing my little Nellie any more. With
kind regards and sincere regrets, re-
main very truly yours,
MATILDA ST. EvREMOND.
Mrs st. Evremond, Pandora Road,
Shepherds Bush, to Captain Maurice
Fairbrain, lib, Jermyn Street, W.,
May 10, 1890:
DEAR CAPTAIN FAIRBRAIN-I have
just learned from my child Of the honor
Of your proposal, and let me say at once
that know no man to whom l would
more gladly confide the happiness of
her life. am the more anxious that
you should believe this assurance be-
cause l am compelled to tell you she can
never be your wife, and / wish you to
understand that l am helpless in the
matter
GILL pOhAitt W q oOavhDOi OttU1ls
Let me explain: When married my
late husband, he, like you, was in the
army. A young man and young, IN
sophisticated girl, we fell in love at q
country ball and welded without q
thought of consequences. He was hand
some, popular and practically penniIess,
and it was not long before l discovered
also that he was deeply in debt.
His father, who idolized him, freed
him from his embarrassment, for the
second time, heard, but with his last
effort the old mans powers of assist
ance came to an end, and in year there
were elnbarrassments again.
will not detail the history Of my
poor husbands charlottesville history
of young fellow placed in an expen-
sive' regiment and tempted to extrava-
gance by the example OF bosom friends
whose position made their companion
ship a curse. l will only say that in his
last years, disgraced and broken heart
ed, it was to his mistaken choice of
profession that he always attributed his
ruin, and before he died he called me
to him and bound me by formal VOW. It
was that when his child was marriagea-
BILE she should never be given to mill
tary man. / shall always keep that
sacred pledge gave in the chamber of
death-I feel that nothing can absolve
me fTNm it-and it is my painful duty
to beg you not to approach my little
Nellie again. Sympatllize with me in
my distress, Captain Fairbrain, and be-
lieye me SOrroWfully yOrlrs