"My dear friend, I will do the best I can in every way; I will, indeed. I do believe that your companions in town have been too ready to lead you astray. Drop them, and you may yet do well."
"May I though, doctor? Well, I will drop them. There's Jenkins; he's the best of them; but even he is always wanting to make money of me. Not but what I'm up to the best of them in that way."
"You had better leave London, Sir Louis, and change your old mode of life. Go to Boxall Hill for a while; for two or three years or so; live with your mother there and take to farming."
"What! farming?"
"Yes; that's what all country gentlemen do: take the land there into your own hand, and occupy your mind upon it."
"Well, doctor, I will—upon one condition."
Dr Thorne sat still and listened. He had no idea what the condition might be, but he was not prepared to promise acquiescence till he heard it.
"You know what I told you once before," said the baronet.
"I don't remember at this moment."
"About my getting married, you know."