Gone to Be Married

This letter did not take me by surprise. Before it was received,
and soon after the first with which she had favored me, by the
hands of the friendly physician, I had begun my preparations with
the view to our clandestine marriage. I was only now required to
quicken them. The obstacle, on the face of it, was, comparatively, a
small one. To get her from a dwelling, in which, though her steps
were watched, she was not exactly a prisoner, was scarcely a
difficulty, where the lover and the lady are equally willing.

Our mode of operations was simple. There was a favorite servant--a
negro--who had been raised in the family, had been a playmate
with my poor deceased cousin and myself, and had always been held
in particular regard by both of us. He was not what is called
a house-servant, but was employed in the yard in doing various
offices, such as cutting wood, tending the garden, going of messages,
and so forth. This was in the better days of the Clifford family.
Since its downfall he had been instructed to look an owner, and,
opportunely, at this moment, when I was deliberating upon the
process I should adopt for the extrication of his young mistress,
he came to me to request that I would buy him. The presence of this
servant suggested to me that he could assist me materially in my
plans. Without suffering him to know the intention which I had
formed I listened to his garrulous harangue. A negro is usually very
copious, where he has an auditor; and though, from his situation,
he could directly see nothing of the proceedings in the house of
his owner, yet, from his fellow-servants he had contrived to gather,
perhaps, a very correct account of the general condition of things.
It appeared from his story that the attachment of Miss Julia to
myself was very commonly understood. The effort of the mother to
persuade her to marry Perkins was also known to him; but of the
arrangement that the marriage should take place at the early day
mentioned in her note, he told me nothing, and, in all probability,
this part of her proceedings was kept a close secret by the wily
dame Peter--the name of the negro--went on to add, that, loving
me, and loving his young mistress, and knowing that we loved one
another, and believing that we should one day be married, he was
anxious to have me for his future owner.