he insisted. "Of course it takes my breath away for joy--and
yet I feel I oughtn't to be consenting to it at all.
And it has its unpleasant side--it buries me under a mountain
of obligation. I don't know what to do or what to say."

"Well, leave the saying and doing to me, then," replied Thorpe,
with a gesture before which the other resumed his seat.
"Just a word more--and then I suppose we'd better be going.
Look at it in this way. Your grandfather was Lord
Chancellor of England, and your father was a General
in the Crimea. My grandfather kept a small second-hand
book-shop, and my father followed him in the business.
In one sense, that puts us ten thousand miles apart.
But in another sense, we'll say that we like each other,
and that there are ways in which we can be of immense
use to each other, and that brings us close together.
You need money--and here it is for you. I need--what
shall I say?--a kind of friendly lead in the matter
of establishing myself on the right footing, among the
right people--and that's what you can do for me.
Mind--I'd prefer to put it all in quite another way;
I'd like to say it was all niceness on your part,
all gratitude on mine. But if you want to consider it on
a business basis--why there you have it also--perfectly plain
and clear."

He got up as he finished, and Lord Plowden rose as well.
The two men shook hands in silence.

When the latter spoke, it was to say: "Do you know