t.

But throughout that routine of dissipation in which he chased the
phantom Forgetfulness, Godolphin sighed for the time he had fixed on
for leaving the scenes in which it was pursued. Of Constance's present
existence he heard nothing; of her former triumphs and conquests he
heard everywhere. And when did he ever meet one face, however fair,
which could awaken a single thought of admiration? while hers was
yet all faithfully glassed in his remembrance. I know nothing that
so utterly converts society into "the gallery of pictures," as the
recollection of one loved and lost. That recollection has but two
cures--Time and the hermitage. Foreigners impute to us the turn for
sentiment; alas! there are no people who have it less. We seek for ever
after amusement; and there is not one popular prose-book in our language
in which the more tender and yearning secrets of the heart form the
subject-matter. The Corinne and the Julie weary us, or we turn them into
sorry jests!

One evening, a little before his departure from England--that a
lingering and vague hope, of which Constance was the object, had
considerably protracted beyond the allotted time--Godolphin was at a
house in which the hostess was a relation to Lord Erpingham.

"Have you heard," asked Lady G----, "that my cousin Erpingham is to be
married?"

"No, indeed; to whom?" said Godolphin, eagerly. "To Miss Vernon."

Sudden as was the shock, Godolphin heard, and changed neither hue nor
muscle.

"Are you certain of this?" asked a lady present.

"Quite: Lady Erpingham is my authority; I received the news from herself
this very day."

"And does she seem pleased with the match?"

"Why, I can scarcely say, for the letter contradicts itself in every
passage. Now, she congratulates herself on having so charming a
daughter-in-law; now, she suddenly stops short to observe what a pity it
is that young men should be so precipitate! Now, she says what a great
match it will be for her dear ward! and now, what a happy one it will
be for Erpingham! In short, she does not know whether to be pleased or
vexed; and that, pour dire vrai, is my case also."

"Why, indeed," observed the former speaker, "Miss Vernon has played her
cards well. Lord Erpingham would have been a great match in himself,
with his person and reputation. Ah! she was always an ambitious girl."

"And a proud one," said Lady G----. "Well, I suppose Erpingham House
will be the rendezvous to all the blues, and