he's really the top 'broker' in town?

Somebody actually swindled him!!! Whcih means he hasn't yet achieved the status of a sophisticated *Rattle*.
His rattling needs streamlining.

Is he just beginning to be such a character?
Is Oxford and the life there influencing him?

He definitely needs more money than his poor mother can provide, and so has embarked on a three pronged career;
To earn more somehow - which will lead him to be *someone* at Oxford - and to do things which are counted as *cool* (at that time, of course), and finally marry someone with money.

The price of a gig has definitely set my mind racing and analysing.