rowing himself into an arm-chair, and
producing Miss Julia's letter from his pocket, as if to corroborate the
assertion that he _had_ been asked.

'Now, Overton,' replied the lady, 'I want your assistance in this matter,
and I must have it. In the lifetime of that poor old dear, Mr.
Cornberry, who--who--'

'Who was to have married you, and didn't, because he died first; and who
left you his property unencumbered with the addition of himself,'
suggested the mayor.

'Well,' replied Miss Julia, reddening slightly, 'in the lifetime of the
poor old dear, the property had the incumbrance of your management; and
all I will say of that, is, that I only wonder it didn't die of
consumption instead of its master. You helped yourself then:--help me
now.'

Mr. Joseph Overton was a man of the world, and an attorney; and as
certain indistinct recollections of an odd thousand pounds or two,
appropriated by mistake, passed across his mind he hemmed deprecatingly,
smiled blandly, remained silent for a few seconds; and finally inquired,
'What do you wish me to do?'

'I'll tell you,' replied Miss Julia--'I'll tell you in three words. Dear
Lord Peter--'

'That's the young man, I suppose--' interrupted the mayor.

'That's the young Nobleman,' replied the lady, with a great stress on the
last word. 'Dear Lord Peter is considerably afraid of the resentment of
his family; and we have therefore thought it better to make the match a
stolen one. He left town, to avoid suspicion, on a visit to his friend,
the Honourable Augustus Flair, whose seat, as you know, is about thirty
miles from this, accompanied only by his favourite tiger. We arranged
that I should come here alone in the London coach; and that he, leaving
his tiger and cab behind him, should come on, and arrive here as soon as
possible this afternoon.'

'Very well,' observed Joseph Overton, 'and then he can order the chaise,
and you can go on to Gretna Green together, without requiring the
presence or interference of a third party, can't you?'

'No,' replied Miss Julia. 'We have every reason to believe--dear Lord
Peter not being considered very prudent or sagacious by his friends, and
they having discovered his attachment to me--that, immediately on his
absence being observed, pursuit will be made in this direction:--to elude
which, and to prevent our being traced, I wish it to be understood in
this house, that dear Lord Peter is slightly deranged, though perfectly
harm