"Yes, sir, after Christmas; it is already settled, much to my joy."
"So much the better!" said her grandfather.
"So much the worse!" thought Hazlehurst.
"Your Paris party will be all together again, Harry?" continued
Mr. Wyllys.
"Yes, sir;" was Hazlehurst's laconic reply. 'I wish I could forget it,' thought he. So much had he been annoyed, throughout the day, that he soon after took up a candle, and, wishing the family good-night, went to his own room.
"I am afraid Harry is not well," said Miss Wyllys, after he had left them. "He seems out of spirits."
Elinor looked up from her work.
"Now you speak of it," replied Mr. Wyllys, "I think he does seem rather out of sorts."
Nothing more was said on the subject; but some unpleasant thoughts suggested themselves to Miss Wyllys; for, during the last day or two, Hazlehurst's manner had repeatedly struck her as unnatural, and she feared that something weighed upon his mind. As for Elinor, her nature was as far as possible from being suspicious; and, least of all, would she have mistrusted Harry; she merely reproached herself for having laughed once or twice, during the day, at his expense, when he had been very absent. She remembered he seemed a little annoyed, at the time, though he never used to mind such things—'I am afraid he thought it unkind, if he was not well,' she said to herself, and determined to make amends, the next morning, by presiding at his early breakfast, before he set out.