True Love for Lizzie?

So- did Lizzie have a sweetheart? It would seem one Curtis I. Piece had high but unrequited hopes of winning Lizzie’s heart. Lizzie had met the ambitious itinerant preacher around 1882 at the Tripp’s house in Westport. Curtis was never one to turn down a possible single lady prospect from a well-heeled and connected family. His advances were tenacious if not welcomed by Lizzie. Although he had not written to her for several years before the murders, he fired off a letter to her while she was incarcerated in the Taunton Jail :
“Westport, Sept. 20, 1892,
To Miss Lizzie with friendly greetings, I am very anxious to meet you and cannot presume upon your presence without your permission, will you be so kind as to appoint a day for me to visit you as soon as convenient? I can come any day or hour. Please do not deny me this one request, believe me, you have my deepest sympathy and constant prayer. I am sincerely yours, Curtis I. Piece.”
Lizzie handed the note over to her family attorney, Andrew Jennings who told Curtis, in short- to bug off! Although grateful for his sympathies, Jennings added, ” She has told me of your previous conduct and I am surprised that any man should attempt to renew it under the current circumstances” and to ” cease your attempts to force yourself upon her notice”! Poor Curtis. He finally gave up.

(Rebello, Lizzie Borden Past and Present, p. 14, Alzach Press, 1999)