CHAPTER XII.
DESCRIPTION OF GODOLPHIN'S HOUSE .-- THE FIRST INTERVIEW .-- ITS EFFECT ON CONSTANCE.
"But," asked Constance, as, the next day, Lady Erpinghain and herself were performing the appointed pilgrimage to the ruins of Godolphin Priory, "if the late Mr.Godolphin, as he grew in years, acquired a turn of mind so penurious, was he not enabled to leave his son some addition to the pied de terre we are about to visit ?" "He must certainly have left some ready money," answered Lady Erpinghain.

"But is it, after all, likely that so young a man as Percy Godolphin could have lived in the manner he has done without incurring debts?
It is most probable that he had some recourse to those persons so willing to encourage the young and extravagant, and that repayment to them will more than swallow up any savings his father might have amassed." "True enough!" said Constance; and the conversation glided into remarks on avaricious fathers and prodigal sons.

Constance was witty on the subject, and Lady Erpingham laughed herself into excellent humour.
It was considerably past noon when they arrived at the ruins.
The carriage stopped before a small inn, at the entrance of a dismantled park; and, taking advantage of the beauty of the day, Lady Erpingham and Constance walked slowly towards the remains of the Priory.
The scene, as they approached, was wild and picturesque in the extreme.
A wide and glassy lake lay stretched beneath them: on the opposite side stood the ruins.

The large oriel window--the Gothic arch--the broken, yet still majestic column, all embrowned and mossed with age, were still spared, and now mirrored themselves in the waveless and silent tide.
Fragments of stone lay around, for some considerable distance, and the whole was backed by hills, covered with gloomy and thick woods of pine and fir.

To the left, they saw the stream which fed the lake, stealing away through grassy banks, overgrown with the willow and pollard oak: and there, from one or two cottages, only caught in glimpses, thin wreaths of smoke rose in spires against the clear sky.