Cruelly as they have been trampled
on, my feelings are too sensitive to allow me to do this. I write it
with the tears in my eyes--you shall not link your fate to an outcast.
Accept these heart-broken lines as releasing you from your promise. Our
engagement is at an end.
"The one consolation which supports me in bidding you farewell is, that
neither of us is to blame. You may have acted weakly, under my father's
influence, but I am sure you acted for the best. Nobody knew what the
fatal consequences of driving me out of England would be but myself--and
I was not listened to. I yielded to my father, I yielded to you; and
this is the end of it!
"I am suffering too acutely to write more. May you never know what my
withdrawal from our engagement has cost me! I beg you will not
blame yourself. It is not your fault that I have had all my energies
misdirected by others--it is not your fault that I have never had a fair
chance of getting on in life. Forget the deserted wretch who breathes
his heartfelt prayers for your happiness, and who will ever remain your
friend and well-wisher.
"FRANCIS CLARE, Jun."
VI.
_From Francis Clare, Sen., to Magdalen_.
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