The do-nothing, care-nothing tendency, common to the very wealthy in this age, had crept upon him unconsciously; the easy, cool, indifferent nonchalance common to men of his class and breeding was habitual with him, and he had never thought it worth while to exert his dormant abilities.

Why then, should he now begin to think it was time to reform all this,--to rouse himself to an effort,--to gain for himself some honor, some distinction, some renown that should mark him out as different to other men?
why was he suddenly seized with an insatiate desire to be something more than a mere "mushroom knight, a fungus of nobility"-- why?
if not to make himself worthy of--ah! There he had struck a suggestive key-note! Worthy of what?
of whom?
There was no one in all the world, excepting perhaps Lorimer, who cared what became of Sir Philip Errington, Baronet, in the future, so long as he would, for the present, entertain and feast his numerous acquaintances and give them all the advantages, social and political, his wealth could so easily obtain.

Then why, in the name of well-bred indolence, should he muse with such persistent gloom, on his general unworthiness at this particular moment?
Was it because this Norwegian maiden's grand blue eyes had met his with such beautiful trust and candor?
He had known many women, queens of society, titled beauties, brilliant actresses, sirens of the world with all their witcheries in full play, and he had never lost his self-possession or his heart; with the loveliest of them he had always felt himself master of the situation, knowing that, in their opinion he was always "a catch," "an eligible," and, therefore, well worth winning.

Now, for the first time, he became aware of his utter insignificance,--this tall, fair goddess knew none of the social slang--and her fair, pure face, the mirror of a fair, pure soul, showed that the "eligibility" of a man from a pecuniary point of view was a consideration that would never present itself to her mind.
What she would look at would be the man himself,--not his pocket.

And, studied from such an exceptional height,--a height seldom climbed by modern marrying women,--Philip felt himself unworthy.