Here's a heartwarming story for you.Two children eloped to get married. They were cunning in leaving their home town near Hanover and heading for Africa, via the nearest airport, because it is illegal for children to marry in Germany. Unfortunately, they were intercepted as they made their way there. "What struck us was that the little ones were completely on their own and that they had lots of swimming gear with them," said Holger Jureczko, a police spokesman, specialising in the obvious.In deeper Africa, where tribal custom still persists, it might be possible, with the correct bribes, for a pair of obvious juveniles to tie the knot. Leaving aside the complications of whether their marriage would be recognised upon their return to their homeland, this is the optimal solution, and they were shrewd to recognise it. However, their case suggests that today's youth are adopting a new Puritanism. Is co-habitation dead? Whatever happened to the mid-30s drift towards the dead-man's grip of holy union as the last salvation against a sense of sinking emptiness? That, surely, is what marriage is for: to occupy the uninteresting turf of pre-midlife. These children should think more carefully before rushing into decisions which may have long-term tax and liability implications.GAVIN HAYNES