Dearest Marie,
I am very sad. I feel the reason you refuse to make up with me is because you are in love with Edward Mason. I have never loved anyone but you and never will. If we are not reconciled before you go back to school, I fear we never will be. I am sending you two poems, "Parting" and "Yesterday," which express how I feel.
Sorrowfully,
Robert.
PARTING
Kiss me! The spell is broken,
The dream we dreamed is gone;
Nothing remains but memory—
Memory, and dawn.
Kiss me!—and then your hand, dear,
Do you not feel the beat,
The rhythm of our pulses?
It does not spell defeat.
It spells the song that life sings,—
The message of the heart—
Pathways meet but to widen
And lips meet but to part.
YESTERDAY
Dreams—just dreams of yesterday,
When love to me was sweet,
Romance has now gone astray,
No other love will I greet.
It was short—my little romance,
Short—but God—how good!
Went along as smooth as a dance,
Part us? It seemed no one could.
But someone did—tho' I forgive,
He loved her as did I,
For her only—did I live,
And now—for her I'd die!
When Marie received the letter, she replied:
Dear Robert,
Your letter and poems received. You are again accusing me wrongfully. You are all in the wrong and until you can see your mistake, I will never think of making up.