Mr Spikeman being married! Who is he married to, Joseph?"

"To a very beautiful young lady, daughter of Squire Mathews, with a
large fortune."

"Yes; men always look for money nowadays," said Amelia.

"I must go now," said Joey, getting up; "I have some calls and some
inquiries to make. Good morning, young ladies."

It must be acknowledged that the two Misses James were not quite so
cordial towards Joey as they were formerly; but unmarried girls do not
like to hear of their old acquaintances marrying anybody save
themselves. There is not only a flirt the less, but a chance the less
in consequence; and it should be remarked, that there were very few
_beaux_ at Dudstone. Our hero was some days at Dudstone before he
received a letter from Spikeman, who informed him that he had arrived
safely at Gretna (indeed, there was no male relation of the family to
pursue him), and the silken bands of Hymen had been made more secure by
the iron rivets of the blacksmith; that three days after he had written
a letter to his wife's father, informing him that he had _done him the
honour_ of marrying his daughter; that he could not exactly say when he
could find time to come to the mansion and pay him a visit, but that he
would as soon as he conveniently could; that he begged that the room
prepared for them upon their arrival might have a _large_ dressing-room
attached to it, as he could not dispense with that convenience; that he
was not aware whether Mr Mathews was inclined to part with the mansion
and property, but, as his wife had declared that she would prefer living
there to anywhere else, he had not any objection to purchase it of Mr
Mathews, if they could come to terms; hoped his gout was better, and was
his "very faithfully, AUGUSTUS SPIKEMAN." Melissa wrote a few lines to
Araminta, begging her, as a favour, not to attempt to palliate her
conduct, but to rail against her incessantly, as it would be the surest
method of bringing affairs to an amicable settlement.

To her father she wrote only these few words:--

"My dear Papa,--You will be glad to hear that I am married. Augustus
says that, if I behave well, he will come and see you soon. Dear
papa, your dutiful child, MELISSA SPIKEMAN."

That the letters of Spikeman and Melissa put the old gentleman in no
small degree of rage, may be conceived; but nothing could be more
judicious than the plan Spikeman had acted upon. It is useless to plead
to a man who is ir