THE EARLIER PART OF OUR CAREER.

"Yes," said Godolphin, the next morning, as he soliloquised over his
lonely breakfast-table--lonely, for the hours of the restless Constance
were not those of the luxurious and indolent Godolphin, and she was
already in her carriage, nay, already closeted with an intriguing
ambassadress--"yes, I have passed two eras of life--the first of romance,
the second of contemplation; once my favourite study was poetry--next
philosophy. Now, returned to my native country, rich, settled, yet
young, new objects arise to me; not that vulgar and troublous ambition
(which is to make a toil of life) that Constance suggests, but a more warm
and vivid existence than that I have lately dreamed away. Let luxury and
pleasure now be to me what solitude and thought were. I have been too
long the solitary, I will learn to be social."

Agreeably to this resolution, Godolphin returned with avidity to the
enjoyment of the world; he found himself courted, he courted society in
return. Erpingham House had been for years the scene of fascination: who
does not recollect the yet greater refinement which its new lord threw
over its circles? A delicate and just conception of the fine arts had
always characterised Godolphin. He now formed that ardour for collecting,
common to the more elegant order of minds. From his beloved Italy he
imported the most beautiful statues--his cabinets were filled with
gems--his walls glowed with the triumphs of the canvas--the showy but
heterogeneous furniture of Erpingham House gave way to a more classic and
perfect taste. The same fastidiousness which, in the affairs of the
heart, had characterised Godolphin's habits and sentiments, characterised
his new pursuits; the same thirst for the Ideal, the same worship of the
Beautiful, and aspirations after the Perfect.