Father and son found some difficulty in beginning.
Each of those two felt as though he were in the presence of someone else's very near relation. They had, in fact, seen extremely little of each other, and not seen that little long.
Lord Valleys uttered the first remark:
“Well, my dear fellow, what are you going to do now? I think we can make certain of this seat down here, if you like to stand.”
Miltoun had answered: “Thanks, very much; I don't think so at present.”
Through the thin fume of his cigar Lord Valleys watched that long figure sunk deep in the chair opposite.
“Why not?” he said. “You can't begin too soon; unless you think you ought to go round the world.”
“Before I can become a man of it?”
Lord Valleys gave a rather disconcerted laugh.
“There's nothing in politics you can't pick up as you go along,” he said. “How old are you?”