‘Well, then, shortly and simply, I’ve made up my mind to two things—to marry, and to get into Parliament.’
Birnie received the intelligence without a movement; only the look of his eyes altered slightly, and they seemed to study Egerton’s face more keenly.
‘I congratulate you on both determinations, old fellow. Splendid things, both of them—matrimony and the legislature. Which do you woo first—the lady or the constituency?’
Gurth laughed.
‘I haven’t begun to look out the lady yet,’ he said, ‘or the constituency either. But don’t you really see any reason why I should marry and become a public man?’
‘None.’
Gurth gave a little sigh of relief.
Birnie rose to go. He shook hands with Gurth heartily.
‘I hope,’ he said, ‘that neither of your new ambitions will interrupt our old friendship, Gurth. We shall be always the same to each other as we have been, I trust?’
‘Always,’ answered Gurth with emphasis.