The Gentleman's Model Letter-writer - Anonymous

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dear Fanny,

      You are never out of my mind. If you only think of me half as much, I shall be satisfied. Sleeping or waking it is all the same, Fanny, you are my only thought. What have you done with your piece of the half-sovereign we cut in halves? I have bored a hole in mine, and wear it round my neck on a bit of blue ribbon, to show that your William is true blue. Do you wear yours the same, my dearest Fanny? When I come home we will splice the halves, and Fanny and her William will be one—will we not, darling girl? Our cruise will now soon be over; I only hope, Fanny, you have been as true to me as I have been to you; never have I ceased thinking of you. Bear in mind your faithful William, who loves you as fondly as ever.

      Your devoted lover,

      William.

      Gentleman's reply to the Lady, imagining he was indifferent to her.

      Gillingham, April 16th, 187-

      Dearest Love,

      Such I must and will, with your permission, always call you. Your letter really caused me much uneasiness. But, Dr. B., who came in just as it arrived, strictly forbade me to excite myself in any way, and would not allow me to reply to it immediately, as he feared an immediate return of my old heart complaint. Who can have been so mischievous, so ungenerous, so determined to make two hearts miserable, as to invent this wicked story of my flirtation with Miss G.? You name Mrs. G. On inquiring of her this morning I find she heard it somewhere spoken of, she says, but cannot recall to her mind the person who mentioned it. Let me at once and for ever disabuse you of such a suspicion. My affection for you is unchanged and unchangeable; often and often I have by letter and verbally too, pledged myself that you alone, Katie dearest, were my only thought, my only joy. Banish all vain suspicions from your mind. Trust in me; I will never deceive you; my love is inviolably yours; for you I breathe, for you I live, without you I should die. Believe me, dearest, night and day you are uppermost in my thoughts, and a sad, sad day it would be for me if for one moment you withdrew that confidence in me that I have so long happily possessed. Believe no aspersions against one who loves you madly. The time, I trust, will soon arrive when I can call you mine alone, and no breath of suspicion shall ever fall upon my fidelity. Love me then, my dearest, as your own heart dictates; have no cares in future as to any attention even in the least degree being shown by me to any one, further than due civility, or what is required from the usages of society, exacts. To-morrow I will do myself the pleasure of calling, and trust then to succeed (if not successful now) in fully explaining away any doubts or fears you may entertain.

      Believe me,

      Dearest Katie,

      Your ever affectionate,

      From a Gentleman to a Lady with whom he is in love.

      Braintree, Essex.

      Dear Miss——,

      As no opportunity has presented itself of speaking to you lately alone, I venture to address you by letter, and I assure you my happiness greatly depends on the reply with which you may deign to favour me.

      I love you, dear Miss——, very sincerely, and if you can return my affection and become my wife, I shall consider myself the most fortunate of men.

      The income which I can place at your disposal is not large, but in my family you will find the most tender and affectionate connexions. My mother (to whom alone I have confided my secret) is rejoiced at the hope of having you for a daughter. Do not, best beloved Miss Johnstone, disappoint her and myself! Should you not reject me—if I am ever so happy as to call you my wife—the tenderest and most affectionate devotion shall be yours, and the principal and only study of my future days shall be to render your life as happy as you deservedly merit it should be. Your reply is most impatiently awaited by one whose life is wrapped up in yours. My aunt has just called, and it appears that some years since she was very intimately acquainted with your father, to whom I have written, enclosing this note for you, and stating to him the purport of its contents.

      I remain,

      Dear Miss Johnstone,

      Yours very truly,

      Harry Clinton.

      From a Soldier ordered Abroad, to his affianced Bride.

      Portsmouth, April 15th, 187-

      Dearest Julia,

      I can scarcely compose myself to write, for this very morning, at mid-day parade, a telegram was received by our commanding officer directing the regiment to hold itself under orders for immediate foreign service; so that of course I shall be prevented seeing you before our departure, as all leave is stopped for officers as well as for the non-commissioned officers and men. Where our future destination may be no one can at present conjecture, but we think it may be Canada. How blighted now are our hopes! where all seemed bright and joyous, nothing is left but separation and blank despair. Julia, you love me; you are mine, are you not, dear Julia? Although separated for a time, we shall love each other faithfully; no doubts must arise, no feelings of suspicion or fear between us; but firm in the knowledge that we are devotedly attached to each other, and that nothing can change the ardent feelings we entertain, we must wait and hope. I trust in a few short years, my darling Julia, to call you mine. Your Ronald will be true to his promise and his love, and in faith that his Julia will bear up bravely, as a soldier's destined wife should do, he obeys his country's call in anguish but not in despair. Accept the little present I send you (forwarded by registered letter by this evening's post), and with most affectionate and enduring love,

      Believe me,

      My dearest Julia,

      Your ever devoted,

      Ronald Dugan.

      From a Gentleman to a Young Lady.

      Snow Hill, January 1st, 187-

      Dear Rosy,

      On returning from skating yesterday afternoon, and reflecting alone on the pleasant morning we had passed, I was more than ever impressed with my wretched solitary existence. Will you break for me this monotonous routine of life by saying, "It need not be, Charlie."

      I have loved you fondly and long; your parents and mine are intimate friends; they know my private character. Will you accept me as your husband, dearest Rosy?

      Believe me,

      Your ever fondly attached,

      Charlie Byers.

      From a Husband to his Wife, on sailing from England.

      H.M.S. Psyche, June 8th.

      My dearest Wife,

      I take the opportunity of the pilot's return to send you a hurried and last farewell. Oh, my dearest, what but duty could reconcile me to leaving you? What but the certainty that we are both protected by our Heavenly Father could support me through the weary days and nights which I am destined to spend far from you? Ah! the waves that are now washing the sides of our vessel will soon cease to beat upon that shore where my wife, where my friends are all thinking of me.

      Farewell my dearest wife; be assured I am in good health and tolerable spirits.

      Comfort yourself, my dearest! we shall all meet soon and happily again. I have not time to write to my mother, but pray tell her she is always in my thoughts. God bless you, dearest!—my heart is full of you.

      Ever your devoted husband,

      H. P.

      From a Husband absent on Business to his Wife.

      The Fens, Lincolnshire, June 1st, 187-

      Dearest Isabella,

      This is the first time, my darling, we have ever experienced the bitterness and misery of separation, and the few days I have already been absent from you appear like years. What my state of mind will be at the expiration of another two or three weeks I will let your little affectionate heart conjecture. But I must not be selfish, my dearest Isa. You share my trial, but do not be down-hearted, the time will soon pass away.

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