Page:The Mysterious Warning - Parsons (1796, volume 2).djvu/83

 had not some company unexpectedly entered the room, it is more than probable the sword would have terminated the dispute. Every effort was used by their mutual friends to bring about a reconciliation, but they had gone too far on both sides to make any concessions; they parted with an avowed hatred to each other, and in the same hour Eugenia and myself were commanded to avoid all future intercourse with the respective families, and never to converse or see the object of our dearest affections more.

"Eugenia, who held the commands of a parent in the utmost veneration, promised implicit obedience, though her heart and spirits sunk under the effort, and she fell dangerously ill. Almost distracted with her situation and my own, I exhausted myself in fruitless endeavours to restore harmony between our fathers: I left nothing unsaid or undone to soften their resentments; but the remembrance of their long friendship only served to increase their animosity to each other, and the asperity with which both the