lbert, young and romantic and
inexperienced, succumbed. Watching her opportunity, she slipped out of
the house early the next morning. Her lover had a post-chaise in
readiness, and they set off in it for Bristol. There they took the
packet and crossed over to Ireland, where James had relatives, who, he
promised, would look after her until their marriage should be
accomplished.

"Elopement in High Life!" A tit-bit of gossip for the tea-tables and
for the bucks at the clubs. No longer a sleepy hollow. Bath was in the
"news."

It was not until they were gone that Mrs. Craigie discovered what had
happened. Her first reaction was one of furious indignation. This,
however, was natural, for not only had her ambitious project gone
astray, but she had been deceived by the very man she had trusted. It
was more than enough to upset anybody, especially as she was also
confronted with the unpleasant task of writing to Sir Abraham Lumley,
and telling him what had happened. As a result, she announced that she
would "wash her hands" of the pair of them.

While it was one thing to run away, it was, as Lola soon discovered,
another thing to get married. An unexpected difficulty presented
itself, as the parish priest whom they consulted refused to perform
the ceremony for so young a girl without being first assured of her
mother's consent. Mrs. Craigie, erupting tears and threats, declined
to give it. Thereupon, James's married sister, Mrs. Watson, sprang
into the breach and pointed out that "things have gone so far that it
is now too late to draw back, if scandal is to be avoided." The
argument was effective; and, a reluctant consent having been secured,
on July 23, 1837, the "position was regularised" by the
bridegroom's brother, the Rev. John James, vicar of Rathbiggon, County
Meath. "Thomas James, bachelor, Lieutenant, 21st Bengal Native
Infantry, and Rose Anna Gilbert, condition, spinster," was the entry
on the certificate.

[Illustration: _Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket, where Lola Montez
made her debut_]

After a short honeymoon in Dublin, first at the Shamrock Hotel, and
then in rather squalid lodgings (for cash was not plentiful), Lola was
taken back to her husband's relatives. They lived in a dull Irish
village on the edge of a peat bog, where the young bride found
existence very boring. Then, too, when the glamour of the elopement
had dimmed, it was obvious that her action in running away from Bath
had been precipitat