Perhaps it was impossible for Constance to have more sensibly touched and
flattered Godolphin than by this surprise; it affected him far more than
the political concession which to her had been so profound a sacrifice;
for his early poverty had produced in him somewhat of that ancestral pride
which the poor only can gracefully wear; and although the tie between his
father and himself had not possessed much endearment, yet he had often,
with the generosity that belonged to him, regretted that his parent had
not survived to share in his present wealth, and to devote some portion of
it to the realisation of those wishes which he had never been permitted to
consummate. Godolphin, too, was precisely of a nature to appreciate the
delicacy of Constance's conduct, and to be deeply penetrated by the
thought that, while he was following a career so separate from hers, she,
in the midst of all her ambitious projects, could pause to labour,
unthanked and in concealment, for the delight of this hour's gratification
to him: the delicacy and the forethought affected him the more, because
they made not a part of the ordinary character of the high and absorbed
ambition of Constance. He did not thank her much by words, but his looks
betrayed all he felt, and Constance was overpaid.

Although the new portion of the building was necessarily not extensive,
yet each chamber was of those grand proportions which suited the
magnificent taste of Godolphin, and harmonised with the ancient ruins.
Constance had shown her tact by leaving the ruins themselves (which it was
profane to touch) unrestored; but so artfully were those connected with
the modern addition, and thence with the apartments in the cottage, which
she had not scrupled to remodel, that an effect was produced from the
whole far more splendid than many Gothic buildings of greater extent and
higher pretensions can afford. Godolphin wandered delightedly over the
whole, charmed with the taste and judgment which presided over even the