FORMS OF LOVE LETTERS.
12.—An Ardent Declaration. Naperville, Ill., June 10th, 1915
My Dearest Laura:
I can no longer restrain myself from writing to you, dearest
and best of girls, what I have often been on the point of
saying to you. I love you so much that I cannot find words in
which to express my feelings. I have loved you from the very
first day we met, and always shall. Do you blame me because I
write so freely? I should be unworthy of you if I did not tell
you the whole truth. Oh, Laura, can you love me in return? I am sure I shall not be able to bear it if your answer is unfavorable. I will study your every wish if you will give me the right to do so. May I hope? Send just one kind word to your sincere friend.
HARRY SMITH.
13.—A Lover's Good-bye Before Starting on a Journey. Pearl St., New York, March 11th, 1894.
My Dearest Nellie: I am off to-morrow, and yet not altogether, for I leave my heart behind in your gentle keeping. You need not place a guard over it, however, for it is as impossible that it should stay away, as for a bit of steel to rush from a magnet. The simile is eminently correct for you, my dear girl, are a magnet, and my heart is as true to you as steel. I shall make my absence as brief as possible. Not a day, not an hour, not a minute, shall I waste either in going or returning. Oh, this business; but I wont complain, for we must have something for our hive besides honey—something that rhymes with it—and that we must have it, I must bestir myself. You will find me a faithful correspondent. Like the spider, I shall drop a line by (almost) every post; and mind, you must give me letter for letter. I can't give you credit. Your returns must be prompt and punctual.
Passionately yours, LEWIS SHUMAN.
To Miss Nellie Carter, No. — Fifth Avenue, New York.
14.—From an Absent Lover. Chicago, Ill., Sept. 10, 1915
My Dearest Kate: This sheet of paper, though I should cover
it with loving words, could never tell you truly how I long
to see you again. Time does not run on with me now at the
same pace as with other people; the hours seem days, the days
weeks, while I am absent from you, and I have no faith in the
accuracy of clocks and almanacs. Ah! if there were truth in
clairvoyance, wouldn't I be with you at this moment! I wonder
if you are as impatient to see me as I am to fly to you? Sometimes it seems as if I must leave business and every thing else to the Fates, and take the first train to Dawson. However, the hours do move, though they don't appear to, and in a few more weeks we shall meet again. Let me hear from you as frequently as possible in the meantime. Tell me of your health, your amusements and your affections.
Remember that every word you write will be a comfort to me.
Unchangeably yours, WILLIAM MILLER.
To Miss Kate Martin, Dawson, N.D.
15.—A Declaration of Love at First Sight. Waterford, Maine, May 8th, 1915
Dear Miss Searles:
Although I have been in your society but once the impression
you have made upon me is so deep and powerful that I cannot
forbear writing to you, in defiance of all rules of etiquette. Affection is sometimes of slow growth but sometimes it springs up in a moment. In half an hour after I was introduced to you my heart was no longer my own, I have not the assurance to suppose that I have been fortunate enough to create any interest in yours; but will you allow me to cultivate your acquaintance in the hope or being able to win your regard in the course of time? Petitioning for a few lines in reply.
I remain, dear Miss Searles, Yours devotedly, E.C. NICKS.
Miss E. Searles, Waterford, Maine.
16.—Proposing Marriage. Wednesday, October 20th, 1894
Dearest Etta:
The delightful hours I have passed in your society have left
an impression on my mind that is altogether indelible, and cannot be effaced even by time itself. The frequent opportunities I have possessed, of observing the thousand acts of amiability and kindness which mark the daily tenor of your life, have ripened my feelings of affectionate regard into a passion at once ardent and sincere until I have at length associated my hopes of future happiness with the idea of you as a life partner, in them. Believe me, dearest Etta, this is no puerile fancy, but the matured results of a long and warmly cherished admiration of your many charms of person and mind. It is love—pure devoted love, and I feel confident that your knowledge of my character will lead you to ascribe my motives to their true source.