Can a plaintiff sue for services rendered upon a quantum meruit?

The plaintiff claimed, however, in the alternative, for services rendered upon a quantum meruit and as to such claim the master of the rolls in Barnett v. Isaacson (1888) 4 TLR 645, says: “To entitle the plaintiff to sue upon a quantum meruit the rule was that if the plaintiff relied upon the acceptance by the defendant of something he had done, he must have done it under circumstances which led the defendant to know if he, the defendant, accepted what had been done it was on the terms that he must pay for it.”