n, and made him beg for
forgiveness! Oh, he thinks me the most virtuous of my sex--but there is
his carriage; now for the consummation of my hopes!'

Mr. Hedge entered the room, and raising her jewelled hand to his lips,
kissed it with rapture. The old gentleman was dressed in a style quite
juvenile;--his coat was of the most modern cut, his vest and gloves
white, and his cambric handkerchief fragrant with _eau de cologne_. To
make himself look as young as possible, he had dyed his gray hair to a
jet black, and his withered cheeks had been slightly tinged with
_rouge_, to conceal the wrinkles, and give him a youthful, fresh
appearance. He certainly looked twenty years younger than ever, but he
could not disguise his infirm gait and the paralytic motions of his
body.

But let not the reader suppose that he was either a superannuated
coxcomb or a driveling dotard. He was a man of sense and feeling, but
his passion for Julia had, for the time, changed all his manner and
habits.--He saw that she was a young and lovely woman, about to give
herself to the arms of a man thrice her age; and he wished to render the
union less repugnant to her, by appearing to be as youthful as possible
himself. Therefore, he had made up his toilet as we have described, not
from personal vanity, but from a desire to please his intended bride.

We wish not to disguise the fact that Mr. Hedge was an exceedingly
amorous old gentleman; and that in taking Julia to his matrimonial
embrace, he was partially actuated by the promptings of the flesh. But
in justice to him we will state that these were not the only
considerations which had induced him to marry her; he wanted a companion
and friend--one whose accomplishments and buoyancy of spirits would
serve to dispel the loneliness and _ennui_ of his solitary old age. Such
a person he fancied he had found in the young, beautiful 'widow,' Mrs.
Belmont.

'Sweetest Julia,' said the aged bridegroom, enclosing her taper waist
with her arm--'the carriage is at the door, and all is in readiness to
complete our felicity. To-night we will revel in the first joys of our
union in my own house--to-morrow, as you have requested, we depart for
Boston.'

'Ah, dearest,' murmured Julia, as her ripe lips were pressed to
his--'you make me so happy! How young you look tonight! What raptures I
anticipate in your arms! Feel how my heart beats with the wildness of
passion!'

She placed his hand into her fair, soft bosom