I am a student in a
small way, and a man of quiet tastes. I have no social ambitions at
all. Do you understand?"
"Entirely."
"On the other hand, my experience of the world has been that it is the
rarest thing to be able to form a friendship with a poorer man--I mean
with a man who is at all eager to increase his income. They think much
of your wealth, and little of yourself. I have tried, you understand,
and I know." He paused and ran his fingers through his thin beard.
Robert McIntyre nodded to show that he appreciated his position.
"Now, you see," he continued, "if I am to be cut off from the rich by
my own tastes, and from those who are not rich by my distrust of their
motives, my situation is an isolated one. Not that I mind isolation: I
am used to it. But it limits my field of usefulness. I have no
trustworthy means of informing myself when and where I may do good.
I have already, I am glad to say, met a man to-day, your vicar, who
appears to be thoroughly unselfish and trustworthy. He shall be one of
my channels of communication with the outer world. Might I ask you
whether you would be willing to become another?"
"With the greatest pleasure," said Robert eagerly.
The proposition filled his heart with joy, for it seemed to give him an
almost official connection with this paradise of a house.
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