DEEPER AND DEEPER. 95

out of his thoughts ; considering that his aunt and
uncle as it were espoused the cause of the players, he
was for ever scheming whether he could not bring
Jessie and his aunt acquainted ; he thought of her
being adopted as a daughter into the family—he
thought of a thousand unlikely things—in fact, in
the excited state of mind he then was, he could not
tell probable from improbable things; not at all!
He even thought of getting the two guineas which
Evans demanded for the damaged horse and gig from
poor Reynolds. Reynolds could borrow the money
from his aunts as if on his own account, he thought,

Thus pondered and thus schemed Williams, and
in the mean time his friends the players were pre-
paring to bring out the new comedy of “‘ The Parson
in Love ;” the character of Parson Perfect to be
performed by “a new actor from London,” and the
double character of Lucinda and TabithaT wiggem by
Miss Jessie Bannerman.

Williams duly received his part in MS., which he
privately learned and rehearsed, not daring, for the
life of him, however, to take Reynolds into his con-
fidence on this subject, for ever since the night of
the Fair Quaker of Deal he had been as vehement
against players and playgoers as his aunts or Mr.
Goodman himself.

A rehearsal of the whole piece was proposed at
Mr. Maxwell’s lodgings on Sunday afternoon, and
thither of course Williams was summoned. But
when he got there something very peculiar presented
itself. There was ‘Tom Bassett, to whom also a
copy of the part of Parson Perfect had been sent—
there he was, come to rehearse his part, and had
brought with him an order for five-and-twenty