Why does Smithers propose to share his flat?

This radio play, adapted from a Lord Dunsany story, opens with two men, Smithers and Linley, talking to a renting agent about rooms in London. Linley suggests to Smithers that they view the flats together to save the agent “mak[ing] two trips around the premises” (3). Both men seem to really love the property that they view, remarking that it is “rather nice. Airy too . . . this perfect apartment" (4). Both, however, balk at the price of fifty pounds per quarter. Then, Linley comments that if they shared it they “could do very well indeed,” and Smithers replies “that’s exactly what I was about to suggest" (4).
So, there is really one reason that they both want to share the flat: to save money. However, there is an extra reason that Smithers wants to share the flat: because he can tell from Linley’s appearance and manner that he is a “well-educated man” (5). Smithers hopes that Linley’s “Oxford manner” will rub off on him and “double [his] sales” (5).