‘Why could he not have written to me? Did he think I was not ready to help my own son?’
‘It was necessary to act without loss of time.’
‘If it were necessary to pay down the sum, why not tell me of it, instead of letting poor Arthur give him a bond that is worth nothing?’
‘I fancy, if he had any notion of regaining Theodora, he was unwilling you or she should know the extent of the obligation.’
‘It is well I do know it. I thought it unsatisfactory to hear of no profit, after all the talk there has been about his books. I feared it was an empty trade: but this is something like. Five thousand! He is a clever fellow after all!’
‘I hope he may soon double it,’ said John, amused at this way of estimating Percy’s powers.
‘Well, it was a friendly act,’ continued Lord Martindale. ‘A little misjudged in the manner, perhaps; but if you had seen the state Arthur was in—’
‘I should have forgiven Percy?’ said John, with a slightly ironical smile, that made his father laugh.
‘Not that I am blaming him,’ he said; ‘but it shall be paid him at once if it comes to selling Wyelands. You know one cannot be under an obligation of this sort to a lad whom one has seen grow up in the village.’
‘Perhaps he wishes it to be considered as all in the family.’