Sad Story
The Love Letter Part 3
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"I was quite a young girl when I first
met Richard Weston. He was an Englishman who
boarded with the Van Rensburgs on the next farm,
four or five miles from us. Richard was not
strong. He had a weak chest, and the doctors
had sent him to South Africa so that the dry
air could cure him. He taught the Van Rensburg
children, who were younger than I was, though
we often played together, but he did this for
pleasure and not because he needed money."We
loved one another from the first moment we met,
though we did not speak of our love until the
evening of my eighteenth birthday. All our friends
and relatives had come to my party, and in the
evening we danced on the big old carpet which
we had laid down in the barn. Richard had come
with the Van Rensburgs, and we danced together
as often as we dared, which was not very often,
for my father hated the Uitlanders. Indeed,
for a time he had quarreled with Mynheer Van
Rensburg for allowing Richard to board with
him, but afterwards he got used to the idea,
and was always polite to the Englishman, though
he never liked him.
"That was the happiest birthday of my
life, for while we were resting between dances
Richard took me outside into the cool, moonlit
night, and there, under the stars ,he told me
he loved me and asked me to marry him. Of course
I promised I would, for I was too happy to think
of what my parents would say, or indeed of anything
except Richard was not at our meeting place
as he had arranged. I was disappointed but not
alarmed, for so many things could happen to
either of us to prevent out keeping our tryst.
I thought that next time we visited the Van
Ransburgs, I should hear what had kept him and
we could plan further meetings…
"So when my father asked if I would drive
with him to Driefontein I was delighted. But
when we reached the homestead and were sitting
on the stoep drinking our coffee, we heard that
Richard had left quite suddenly and had gone
back to England. His father had died, and now
he was the heir and must go back to look after
his estates.
"I do not remember very much more about
that day, except that the sun seemed to have
stopped shining and the country no longer looked
beautiful and full of promise, but bleak and
desolate as it sometimes does in winter or in
times of drought. Late that afternoon, Jantje,
the little Hottentot herd boy, came up to me
and handed me a letter , which he said the English
baas had left for me. It was the only love letter
I ever received, but it turned all my bitterness
and grief into a peacefulness which was the
nearest I could get, then, to happiness. I knew
Richard still loved me, and somehow, as long
as I had his letter, I felt that we could never
be really parted, even if he were in England
and I had to remain on the farm. I have it yet,
and though I am an old, tired woman, it still
gives me hope and courage."
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More on The Love Letter
Part 1 Sad
Love Story | Part 2 The
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