The tailor put his head on one side, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Have I had the honour of being recommended to you by the honourable gentleman your father?” he asked.

“No, indeed,” Rupert said.  “It was mine host at the Bell, who advised me that I could not do better than come to your shop.”

“Ah, you are known to him, beyond doubt,” John Haliford said, brightening.

“No, indeed,” Rupert answered.  “He was a stranger to me to within five minutes back.”

“You must excuse my caution, young sir,” John Haliford said, after another minute’s reflection; “but it is the custom of us London tradesmen with those gentlemen who may honour us with their custom, and whom we have not the honour of knowing, to require payment, or at least a portion of payment, at the time of giving the order, and the rest at the time of delivery of the goods.  In your case, sir, I am sure, an unnecessary piece of caution, but a rule from which I never venture to go.”

“That is only fair and right,” Rupert said.  “I will pay half now, and the other half when the garments are completed; or if it please you, will pay the whole in advance.”

“By no means, by no means,” the tailor said with alacrity; “one third in advance is my rule, sir.  And now, sir, what colour and material do you affect?”

“As sober both in hue and in material as may be,” Rupert said, “and yet sufficiently in the fashion for me to wear in calling upon a nobleman of the court.”

“Pardon me,” the tailor said, “but perhaps you would condescend to take me into your confidence.  There are noblemen, and noblemen.  A tory lord, for instance, is generally a little richer in his colour than a whig nobleman, for these affect a certain sobriety of air.  With some again, a certain military cut is permitted, while with others this would be altogether out of place.”

“I am going to the Earl of Marlborough,” Rupert said briefly.

“Dear me, dear me!  Indeed now!” the little tailor said with an instant and great accession of deference, for the Earl of Marlborough was the greatest man in the realm.  “Had your honour mentioned that at first, I should not have ventured to hint at the need for previous payment.”

“What!” Rupert said, with a smile.  “You would have broken your fixed rule!  Surely not, Master Haliford.”

The tailor looked sharply at his young customer.  Whoever he might be, he was clearly no fool; and without more ado he brought forward his patterns and bent himself to the work in hand.

Having chosen the colours and stuffs for the suits of clothes, the lads returned to the Bell, where a supper of cold chicken and the remains of a fine sirloin awaited them, with two tankards of home-brewed ale.  The next morning, before sallying out to see the town, Rupert wrote to his grandfather, asking his pardon for running away, expressing his intention of applying to the Earl of Marlborough for a cornetcy of horse, and giving his address at the Bell; asking him also to make his humble excuse to his lady mother, and to assure her of his devotion and respect, although circumstances had caused his apparent disobedience to her wishes.