to Lord Plowden his accustomed fluency of speech.

"I came here to say precisely that thing," he began--"that
I do trust it to you. We have never had any very definite
talk on the subject--and pray don't think that I want
to go into details now. I'd much rather not, in fact.
But what I do want to say to you is this: I believe
in you. I feel sure that you are going to go far,
as the saying is. Well, I want to tie myself to your star.
Do you see what I mean? You are going to be a power
in finance. You are going to be able to make and unmake
men as you choose. I should be very much obliged indeed
if you would make me."

Thorpe regarded the handsome and titled man of fashion
with what seemed to the other a lethargic gaze. In truth,
his mind was toiling with strenuous activity to master,
in all its bearings, the significance of what had been said.
This habit of the abstracted and lack-lustre eye,
the while he was hard at work thinking, was a fortuitous
asset which he had never up to that time learned that
he possessed. Unconsciously, he dampened the spirits of
his companion.

"Don't imagine I'm trying to force myself upon you,"
Lord Plowden said, growing cool in the face of this slow stare.
"I'm asking nothing at all. I had the impulse to come and
say to you that you are a great man, and that you've done
a great thing--and done it, moreover, in a very great way."