82 DEEPER AND DEEPER.

favour now, he would show how grateful he was.”
On Mr. Osborne — plain, honest, straight-forward
man as he was, and with every tendency to the in-
dulgence of his nephew,—all this made the very
impression which was desired. ‘Poor fellow,”
thought he, “he is so cut up about that blunder ;
he has never looked like himself since—seems all in
a tremble and a dream ; one must not be too severe
with him !”

“Yes, surely, he might go ;’ but Mr. Osborne
could not imagine how there would be any pleasure
in going alone—could not Reynolds, too, have a holi-
day? Williams, who did not by any means think
of taking a companion like Reynolds, reminded
Mr. Osborne that Mr. Isaacs went out on Christmas-
day, too, and Reynolds was to have his holiday on
Christmas-eve with his aunts.

Miss Kendricks had not been to the Osbornes’ since
the little rencontre on Sunday morning ; both they
and the Osbornes still let the little affair rankle in
their minds. It was that sort of quarrel which
sometimes the merest trifle occasions between friends,
and whether it shall be healed, or whether it shall
become a wide and lasting breach, depends upon one
or other of them on the first occasion of anxiety r
sorrow. As yet, however, that occasion had not
presented itself, and Reynolds went to spend Christ-
mas-eve with his aunts without being the bearer of
any message from Mrs, Osborne. Such a thing had
never happened before. The Osbornes, also, were
spending Christmas-eve out, and nobody was left at
home but Mr. Isaacs and Williams.

With Williams it seemed as if the crisis of his fate
were come; he had formed his own plans both for