"Trial has made of you an epicurean, I see. Well, well, so much the better. That which I have to offer you will be the more acceptable."
"Employment, sir?"
"Employment—for a considerable term. Good employment, Mr. Kennedy. Employment which will take you into the highest society, educate you, perhaps, open a great career to you—that is what I came to speak of."
The good man had meant to break the news more dramatically; but it flowed on now as a freshet released, while his eyes sparkled and his head wagged as though his whole soul were bursting with it. Alban thought for a moment that he had met one of those pleasant eccentrics who are not less rare in the East End than the West. "This good fellow has escaped out of an asylum," he thought.
"What kind of a job would that be, sir?"
"Your own. Name it and it shall be chosen for you. That is what I am commissioned to say."
"By whom, sir?"
"By my patron and by yours."
"Does he wish to keep his name back?"
"So little that he is waiting for you at his own house now."