'I shall be sorry to resign, Sir Gregory, as I have such true pleasure in serving with you.'
'And, I presume, a salary of £1,200 a year is not unacceptable?' said Sir Gregory, with the very faintest of smiles.
'By no means,' said Alaric; 'I am a poor man, depending altogether on my own exertions for an income. I cannot afford to throw away a chance.'
'Then take my word for it, you should give up all idea of Parliament,' said Sir Gregory, who thought that he had carried his point.
'But I call a seat in Parliament a chance,' said Alaric; 'the best chance that a man, circumstanced as I am, can possibly have. I have the offer of a seat, Sir Gregory, and I can't afford to throw it away.'
'Then it is my duty to tell you, as the head of your office, that it will be your duty to resign before you offer yourself as a candidate.'
'That you mean is your present opinion, Sir Gregory?'
'Yes, Mr. Tudor, that is my opinion—an opinion which I shall be forced to express to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if you persist in this infatuation.'
Alaric looked very grave, but not a whit angry. 'I am sorry for it, Sir Gregory, very sorry; I had hoped to have had your countenance.'
'I would give it you, Mr. Tudor, if I could consistently with my duty as a public servant; but as I cannot, I am sure you will not ask for it.' How Fidus Neverbend would have admired the chief commissioner could he have seen and heard him at this moment! 'But,' he continued, relaxing for a while the muscles of his face, 'I hope, I do hope, you will think better of this. What are you to gain? Come, Tudor, think of it that way. What are you to gain? You, with a wife and young family coming up about your heels, what are you to gain by going into Parliament? That is what I ask you. What are you to gain?' It was delightful to see how pleasantly practical Sir Gregory could become when he chose to dismount from his high horse.