"Nevertheless she's a beginner; and I'll be glad of your promise to run over from time to time. A question or two will soon discover if things are running on an even keel."
"I shall attempt no method so coarse," Langton assured him. "I don't want to be ordered out of the house—must I repeat that I adore her? It may be news to you that she repays my attachment with a certain respect. . . . Should she find herself in any difficulty—and she will not—I shall be sent for and consulted. In any event, fond man, you may count on my calling."
As they shook hands Sir Oliver asked, "Don't you envy me, Batty?"
"Constantly and in everything," answered Langton; "though—ass that I am—I have rather prided myself on concealing it."
"I mean, don't you wish that you, and not I, were sailing for
England? For that matter, though, there's nothing prevents you."
"Oh yes—there is."
"What, then?"
"Use and wont, if you will; indolence, if you choose; affection for you, Noll, if you prefer it."
"That had been an excellent reason for coming with me."
"It may be a better one for staying. . . . Well, as you walk up St.
James's, give it my regards."