"
Whether, after receiving this, she wrote him the "good long letter" he
asked for in the same epistle is not known. Apparently they did not meet
again until August, and the interview must have been marked by reserve
and coolness on both sides, which left each more uncertain than before;
for on the same day Lincoln again wrote her, and, after saying that she
might perhaps be mistaken in regard to his real feelings toward her,
continued thus:
"I want in all cases to do right, and most particularly so in all cases
with women. I want at this particular time, more than anything else, to
do right with you; and if I knew it would be doing right, as I rather
suspect it would, to let you alone, I would do it. And for the purpose
of making the matter as plain as possible, I now say that you can now
drop the subject, dismiss your thoughts (if you ever had any) from me
forever, and leave this letter unanswered, without calling forth one
accusing murmur from me. And I will even go further, and say that if it
will add anything to your comfort or peace of mind to do so, it is my
sincere wish that you should. Do not understand by this that I wish to
cut your acquaintance. I mean no such thing. What I do wish is that our
further acquaintance shall depend upon yourself. If such further
acquaintance would contribute nothing to your happiness, I am sure it
would not to mine.
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