He knew that the man was very rich, and he respected his eccentricity for the present.

To accomplish the transformation of exterior which he contemplated, from the professional and semi-cynic garb to the splendour of a swell of the period, Mr.Barker counted on some more potent influence than his own.
The only point on which his mind was made up was that Claudius must accompany him to America and create a great sensation.
"I wonder if we shall meet her," remarked Mr.Barker reflectively, when they were seated in the train.
"Whom ?" asked Claudius, who did not intend to understand his companion's chaff.
But Mr.Barker had shot his arrow, and started cleverly as he answered-- "Did I say anything?
I must have been talking to myself." Claudius was not so sure.

However, the hint had produced its effect, falling, as it did, into the vague current of his thoughts and giving them direction.

He began to wonder whether there was any likelihood of his meeting the woman of whom he had thought so much, and before long he found himself constructing a conversation, supposed to take place on their first encounter, overleaping such trifles as probability, the question of an introduction, and other formalities with the ready agility of a mind accustomed to speculation.
"The scenery is fine, is it not ?" remarked Claudius tritely as they neared Baden.
"Oh yes, for Europe.

We manage our landscapes better in America." "How so ?" "Swivels.