he felt his companion
gradually edging more and more from hers; and vainly endeavouring in the
darkness to catch a glimpse of the furious face of the supposed Horace
Hunter.

'We may speak now,' said his fellow-traveller, at length; 'the post-boys
can neither see nor hear us.'

'That's not Hunter's voice!'--thought Alexander, astonished.

'Dear Lord Peter!' said Miss Julia, most winningly: putting her arm on
Mr. Trott's shoulder. 'Dear Lord Peter. Not a word?'

'Why, it's a woman!' exclaimed Mr. Trott, in a low tone of excessive
wonder.

'Ah! Whose voice is that?' said Julia; ''tis not Lord Peter's.'

'No,--it's mine,' replied Mr. Trott.

'Yours!' ejaculated Miss Julia Manners; 'a strange man! Gracious heaven!
How came you here!'

'Whoever you are, you might have known that I came against my will,
ma'am,' replied Alexander, 'for I made noise enough when I got in.'

'Do you come from Lord Peter?' inquired Miss Manners.

'Confound Lord Peter,' replied Trott pettishly. 'I don't know any Lord
Peter. I never heard of him before to-night, when I've been Lord Peter'd
by one and Lord Peter'd by another, till I verily believe I'm mad, or
dreaming--'

'Whither are we going?' inquired the lady tragically.

'How should _I_ know, ma'am?' replied Trott with singular coolness; for
the events of the evening had completely hardened him.

'Stop stop!' cried the lady, letting down the front glasses of the
chaise.

'Stay, my dear ma'am!' said Mr. Trott, pulling the glasses up again with
one hand, and gently squeezing Miss Julia's waist with the other. 'There
is some mistake here; give me till the end of this stage to explain my
share of it. We must go so far; you cannot be set down here alone, at
this hour of the night.'

The lady consented; the mistake was mutually explained. Mr. Trott was a
young man, had highly promising whiskers, an undeniable tailor, and an
insinuating address--he wanted nothing but valour, and who wants that
with three thousand a-year? The lady had this, and more; she wanted a
young husband, and the only course open to Mr. Trott to retrieve his
disgrace was a rich wife. So, they came to the conclusion that it would
be a pity to have all this trouble and expense for nothing; and that as
they were so far on the road already, they had better go to Gretna Green,
and marry each other; and they did so. And the very next preceding entry
in the Blacksmith's book, was an entry of the marriage of