"I am afraid the messenger must have lost my father's letter, or reached Oxford too late, for this letter—that a pedlar has just brought—comes from London, although the man received it at Oxford. It has come right speedily too, for it is little more than a week since it was written, and now it is in my hands."
"But what does he say?" asked Lady Audrey Paton, stamping her foot impatiently. She had come on a visit to her husband's old home, but she found it very dull, and so Sir Thomas, after a good deal of persuasion from his wife and daughter, had consented that Miles should come home for a few weeks, and had written a coldly worded invitation to that effect, and they were expecting the answer to this invitation when Miles' letter from London reached them, which again upset all the plans of the old man.
Whether the young widow surmised it or not, Sir Thomas Paton had decided that the best thing he could do for Miles was to marry him to his brother's widow; thus following the august example of the king.
Whether she knew what the ultimate intent was or not, she had looked forward to the coming of Miles, for the death of their elder son had greatly aged Sir Thomas and Lady Paton; while Margery scarce ever left her own wing of the house, so that the young widow found that the old homestead, which was full of life and jollity before she was married, was now even more dull than her own home. So that she had begun to look forward to the coming of Miles with some eagerness, and she was greatly disappointed when she heard the news received by Margery.
While she was telling Lady Audrey what her brother said, the door opened and her father walked in. "Eh, Margery what is this that I hear? Betty says the pedlar has brought you a letter from Oxford. What does that knave mean by not coming home as I commanded him?"
"Miles is in London, father; he has taken service with the great Cardinal."
"What—what?" thundered the old man, trembling with excitement as he leaned upon his stick. "A son of mine take service with any man, except it be the king himself, to chastise his enemies and uphold the honour of England! That is the only service a Paton ever knows."
"But you forget father that you have not sent Miles any money for some months, so that he has been obliged to write the Greek New Testament into English to earn his bread of late."
"How now, child—am I to be defied by son and daughter too?"
"Father, I am not defying you," said Margery calmly; "I am only telling you what I know is the truth. Miles has had a very hard time at Oxford this last winter, and if he had not been able to—"