The Soldier's Wife — page 76: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

SE ay, tte ~~ LT ~ = 6 THE SOLDIER'S WIFE. 63 e tro], she could not without abandoning Lons- dale return to her father. Such a sacrifice she would not make. Though still experiencing a filial regard for her sire, she could no longer love him with the same pure and confiding af- fection as she had been wont to experience: his treatment had been too harsh—his tyranny too unrelenting—and his own character had been developed in colors too dark, not to shock the ingenuous feelings of his daughter, and ena- ble her to discover in her own conscience a complete justification for the course which she Was pursuing. At the same time she longed to make him aware .hat she was incapable of adopting a wrong path, and that if she re- nounced her home for ever, it must not thence be inferred that she was likely to disgrace the name thatshe had borne. Frederick, when her This letter, being duly sealed and addressed, was given by Lonsdale to the guard of one of the coaches; and a fee of five shillings elicited a ready promise that the instructions which accompanied it should be punctually obeyed. Lucy, thinking that her father might possibly address her again through the medium of the newspapers, begged her lover to keep his eye upon them; and in about a week another ad- vertisement appeared, to the following efiect :—~ “LL, D.—I have received your letter bearing the London post-mark. Again and again do J beseech you to return. The intelligence haa reached me that a certain person, F. L., has deserted from his regiment. I implore you by everything sacred not to unite yourself to that man. You do not know his real character. Wishes were made known to him, suggested] Besides, are you aware that at any moment he that if she would write a letter to her father, he would give it to the guard of one of the York and London coaches, with strict injunc- tions to put it into the post-office in the metro- olis. Lucy accordingly penned the following nes :— “My dear father, “For in such terms must I address you, inas- may be snatched away from you and subjected to an infamous punishment ? “Your distracted father, ea th Os For a moment did Frederick Lonsdale hesi- tate to show this advertisement to Lucy. Not that he feared any evil effect from the base in sinuation regarding his own character, because much as notwithstanding everything that has|he knew that his well-beloved would put the occurred, I cannot forget that until recently| proper construction theron: but it was on ae- your treatment of me was always such as to demand my devoted love. I have seen your advertisement in the newspapers: but it is im- eget that I can obey your wishes. Things ave gone too far to permit the hope that we could ever again live happily beneath the same roof. Rest assured that your daughter will never forget the excellent advice which her deceased and lamented mother was wont to instil into her mind. No, father—on this head you need not entertain the slightest apprehen- sion; but you may trust in this assurance, even if you do not know my character sufficiently to be full well aware that I am incapable of dé- ing anything wrong. From time to time, if opportunities should arrive, you may expect to count of the revelation which would be made to her respecting the penalty affixed to the crime of desertion, that he thus hesitated. Carfdor was however one of the leading cha- racteristics of the young man; and he there- fore promptly made up his mind to show her the advertisement He did so,—at the same time gently and delicately making her aware of the nature of the punishment to which her father alluded. At first Lucy was dreadfully shocked, and became convulsed with grief: but the assurances which Frederick gave her, to the effect that their precautions were so wel! taken and their future plans were so well laid as to render his capture the most distant of chances, succeeded in consoling the young hear from me; and I cherish the hope that I/damsel. As for this second entreaty on the shall be enabled hereafter to suggest some|part of her father, she remained unmoved,— means by which you may communicate with|her resclution being firmly taken to sacrifice me, if such be your desire. But it is not pro-jall the world rather than abandon her lover. bable that I shall confide to you the place of | The banns having been duty asked on three my abode; and this I mention not in any spirit}consecutive Sundays, the marriage was cele- of defiance—because of that I am incapable—| brated with as mech privacy and simplicity as but that you may spare yourself the excite-|possible; and Lucy Davis became the bride of ment, the suspense, and the cost of unavailing|him whom she loved so tenderly and devotedly researches to discover me. You know, father,|Forgotten now were all past sufferings and that I am’ not to blame for having fled from|afflictions; and the young pair experienced a you: it was my only alternative—the last re-|sense of happiness whichs absorbed every ap- source to which your own conduct drove me.|prehension of future sorrows. The day after But do not think that I cherish any animosity|their union they proceeded to Carlisle, where against you. Such a feeling is incompatible|they resolved to settle down. They had no with the filial love I have ever borne you.|particular object in choosing this place, beyond Therefore, when I beseech heaven to forgive|the circumstance of its extreme remotenese you, as I forgive you, for your cruelty towards|from that midland county in which Mr. Davie me—and when I add that I am doing my best/dwelt, and of its still greater distance from to efface the sense of it from my mind—it is in| Pertsmouth, where the depot of Lonsdale’s re all sincerity I give you these assurances. Yes:|giment was stationed. The reader has already that God may I} less you, my dear father, is in-/seen that their little plans were prudentially deed the praya of your daughter, sketched out beforehand, and that they did net “L. D.” Jabandon themee}ves to chance circumstances comicbooks.com