character. Thus, Arabella was constantly jarring against and annoying Kate’s sensitiveness by thought, word, and deed; and she felt that a gulf had grown up between them, which would effectually prevent her friend’s society from affording her the comfort and support she had hoped and expected. Arabella was much too quick-sighted not to have perceived the effect this feeling had produced upon Kate’s manner, although she was ignorant of the cause. Thus, the parting between the friends--for, from old association, friends they still were--was by no means so painful as under other circumstances they might have considered it. Left to her own devices, Kate bethought her of the expedition to visit Mrs. Leonard, which Horace D’Almayne had proposed to her on the occasion of the horticultural _fête_, but which she had never yet found an opportunity to accomplish. Mrs. Leonard’s history was a distressing one. Her husband had been partner in a north country bank, at which Mr. Crane usually kept a considerable account. On one occasion, when his balance there exceeded even its usual limits, a junior partner suddenly absconded to America, taking with him so considerable a sum that the bank was obliged to stop payment, and Mr. Leonard found himself a ruined man. In his adversity, his mind became engrossed by one fixed idea, which almost assumed the character of a monomania--viz., that it was his mission to trace out his late partner, and recover the money with which he had made away; this notion preyed upon him until one morning he, too, suddenly disappeared, leaving a letter to inform his wife that he had set out in search of the delinquent, and that she would hear nothing more of him until he had succeeded in his object. On inquiry it appeared that he had taken a berth in an American packet, which had just sailed, and, beyond that, all trace of him was lost. Consequently, his family had fallen into actual poverty, which, day by day, assumed a sterner and more hopeless character. A gentleman well versed in the details of Mr. Crane’s early acquaintance with Mr. Leonard (who, before Mr. Crane had amassed the fortune he now possessed, had several times advanced him money, and in a measure, therefore, contributed to his success in life), advised Mrs. Leonard to apply to him for assistance; and, being aware how much the _millionaire_ was guided by the opinion of Horace D’Almayne, suggested that she should make her first application through him: in which appeal the fertile brain of that good young man perceived matter which might be made profitable to the furtherance of his designs, and re-arranged his hand, so as to take in the new cards thus placed within his reach.