If he rose, must she not rise also?
Whatever step in life was good for him, must it not be good for her as well?
And so that matter was settled between them--pleasantly enough.
He endured a fortnight of considerable excitement, during which he and Sir Gregory did not smile at each other, and then he saw the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

That gentleman promised to speak to the Prime Minister, feeling himself unable to answer the question put to him, definitely out of his own head; and then another fortnight passed on.

At the end of that time the Chancellor of the Exchequer sent for Alaric, and they had a second interview.
'Well, Mr.Tudor,' said the great man, 'this is a matter of very considerable importance, and one on which I am not even yet prepared to give you a positive answer.' This was very good news for Alaric.

Sir Gregory had spoken of the matter as one on which there could be no possible doubt.

He had asserted that the British lion would no longer sleep peaceably in his lair, if such a violence were put on the constitution as that meditated by the young commissioner.