There was no opportunity to discuss this with his father, and Margery was the first to whom he had unburdened his mind upon the subject, but, now it had once been spoken of, he longed to talk to his father about the matter, and a few days after he had his talk with his sister the opportunity occurred.
His father came, to his room one morning to pay his customary visit, but instead of leaving him a few minutes afterwards, he said, "I want a talk with you, Miles, for John's death has put some of my business into confusion, and as you are my only son now you must do what you can to help me."
"Thank you; I shall be glad enough to help you, for time passes slowly here, so if you can give me some scrivener's work to do I will be careful to follow all your commands," said Miles.
His father smiled. "I have not much scrivener's work for you, it is but to write your name a few times. Perhaps you have not heard of the usage among the Patons in the matter of the land, but it is necessary if any changes are to be made in the letting and leasing that not only the landlord himself, but his heir, be he son, or brother, or nephew, shall conjoin with him in all such signing. Now you may have heard that we can make a good deal more by the land now than letting it at a low rent to a few yeomen to grow wheat and rye and oats."
"Did they fail to pay the rent when it fell due?" asked Miles, with a tremble in his voice, for he had never heard of this custom before, but he began to see that he would not be so powerless as he thought.
"Oh, yes, the knaves paid well enough," said his father, carelessly, "but the rent was small, and I began to see that they got far more profit out of the land than I did. They managed to bring up sons and daughters, feeding them well while they lived at home, and giving them as much as five pounds when they married."
"But—but was this more than fair?" asked Miles.
His father fidgetted on his stool. "It is not needful to talk about that. I am only doing what other landlords have done. I told Rankin that I must double his rent or turn the land into a sheep farm."
"But was there nothing less than doubling the rent, father? That—"
"Now, Miles, you are a scholar, and know all about Greek and Latin Testaments I daresay," interrupted his father, "but they have nothing to do with English land, and you cannot be expected to understand it either, and I don't ask you to trouble your wits about the matter. You enjoy yourself as much as you can while you are at home, and if you like to go back to Oxford for another year you shall do so, but if you like to take poor Jack's place at once, why, you have the right to it, and there will be plenty of hunting and hawking by-and-bye."