That was called the pursuit of literature.
The Saracinesca were thought very original and different from
other men, because they gave some attention to their estates. It
seemed very like business to try and improve the possessions one
had inherited or acquired by marriage, and business was
degradation. Nevertheless, the Saracinesca were strong enough to
laugh at other people's scruples, and did what seemed best in
their own eyes without troubling themselves to ask what the world
thought. But the care of such matters was not enough to occupy
Giovanni all day. He had much time on his hands, for he was an
active man, who slept little and rarely needed rest. Formerly he
had been used to disappear from Rome periodically, making long
journeys, generally ending in shooting expeditions in some half-
explored country. That was in the days before his marriage, and
his wanderings had assuredly done him no harm. He had seen much of
the world not usually seen by men of his class and prejudices, and
the acquaintance he had thus got with things and people was a
source of great satisfaction to him. But the time had come to give
up all this. He was now not only married and settled in his own
home, but moreover he loved his wife with his whole heart, and
these facts were serious obstacles against roughing it in Norway,
Canada, or Transylvania.
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