“I shall be able to satisfy them,” returned Robert Turold.  “The first Robert Turold reverted to the Norman spelling when he settled in Suffolk.  Turrald is the corrupted form, doubtless due to early Saxon difficulties with Norman names.  The Saxons were never very glib at Norman-French, and there was no standardized spelling of family names at that period.”

“It would be interesting to know how the name of Simon came to be bestowed upon the Simon Turrald who fled to Cornwall after Bosworth.  The name is Biblical—­not Norman.  The Normans were pagan, worshipping Woden and Thor, though supposed to be Christianized after Charles the Simple ceded Neustria to Rollo.”

“Simon was a good mediaeval name in France and was fairly common in England from the twelfth century until after the Reformation.  It was Norman, as being that of an apostle, and was never popular among the Puritans.”

“It seems a pity that you cannot claim the Turrald estates,” put in Austin.  “They must have been immensely wealthy.”

“It is quite out of the question,” replied Robert decisively.  “They have been alienated for centuries.  But it has been part of my life’s work to provide for the upkeep of the title when I gained it.  I shall be able to ensure my heirs an income of nearly eight thousand pounds a year.”

It was Mrs. Pendleton’s first intimation of the amount of the fortune her brother had gained abroad.  “Eight thousand a year!” she exclaimed.  “Oh, Robert, it is wealth.”

“One could live very comfortably on eight thousand a year,” remarked her husband, “very comfortably indeed.”

“It’s not much to support a title, after the tax-gatherers have taken their pound of flesh in income tax and super-tax,” said Austin.  “Robert, with his iron frame, will probably outlive a weakling like myself, but if he doesn’t I’m sure I shall find it difficult to keep up the title on the money.”

“One word!” said Dr. Ravenshaw, with a quick glance at Robert Turold.  “This is a barony by writ that you are claiming.  Does not your daughter succeed you if you gain it, and not your brother?”

“No,” replied Robert Turold.  “The next holder of the title, after me, will be my brother, and his son will succeed him.”

Little Mr. Pendleton looked questioningly at his brother-in-law.

“A similar question was on my lips,” he said hesitatingly.  “I know very little of such matters, but in view of our family’s probable entry into the ranks of the old nobility I have deemed it my duty to make myself acquainted, to some extent, with the history of the Turrald title and peerage law.  It seems a very complicated business—­peerage law, I mean—­in the case of baronies by writ, but I certainly gathered the impression that a sole daughter can succeed, although several daughters are regarded as coheirs.”

“My daughter cannot succeed to the Turrald title,” rejoined Robert Turold.  The words seemed to be wrung out of him reluctantly.