he had been at Bath, accompanied of course by his friend
and tutor. Up until a short time previous to his arrival there, his
communications to his parents and to Jane were not only punctual and
regular, but remarkable for the earnest spirit of dutiful affection
and fervid attachment which they breathed to both. It is true that his
father had, during the whole period of his absence, been cognizant of
that which the vigilance of Jane's love for him only suspected--I
allude to the state of his health, which it seems occasionally betrayed
symptoms of his hereditary complaint.

This gave Mr. Osborne deep concern, for he had hoped that so long a
residence in more genial climates would have gradually removed from his
son's constitution that tendency to decline which was so much dreaded
by them all. Still he was gratified to hear, that with the exception of
those slight recurrences, the boy grew fast and otherwise with a healthy
energy into manhood. The principles he had set out with were unimpaired
by the influence of continental profligacy. His mind was enlarged, his
knowledge greatly extended, and his taste and manners polished to a
degree so unusual, that he soon became the ornament of every circle in
which he moved. His talents, now ripe and cultivated, were not only of
a high, but also of a striking and brilliant character--much too
commanding and powerful, as every one said, to be permitted to sink into
the obscurity of private life.

This language was not without its due impression on young Osborne's
mind; for his tutor could observe that soon after his return to England
he began to have fits of musing, and was often abstracted, if not
absolutely gloomy. He could also perceive a disinclination to write
home, for which he felt it impossible to account. At first he attributed
this to ill health, or to those natural depressions which frequently
precede or accompany it; but at length on seeing his habitual absences
increase, he inquired in a tone of friendly sympathy, too sincere to be
doubted, why it was that a change so unusual had become so remarkably
visible in his spirits.

"I knew not," replied Osborne, "that it was so; I myself have not
observed what you speak of."

"Your manner, indeed, is much changed," said his friend; "you appear to
me, and I dare say to others, very like a man whose mind is engaged upon
the consideration of some subject that is deeply painful to him, and of
which he knows not how to dispose.