 Chapter 8 of Little Lord Fauntleroy This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Susan Unpleby Little Lord Fauntleroy by Francis Hodgson Burnett Chapter 8 Lord Dorancourt had occasioned to wear his grim smile many a time as the days passed by. Indeed, as his acquaintance with his grandson progressed, he wore the smile so often that there were moments when it almost lost its grimness. There is no denying that before Lord Fauntleroy had appeared on the scene, the old man had been growing very tired of his loneliness and his gout and his seventy years. After so long a life of excitement and amusement, it was not agreeable to sit alone, even in the most splendid room, with one foot on a gout stool and with no other diversion than flying into a rage and shouting at a frightened footman who hated the sight of him. The old Earl was too clever a man not to know perfectly well that his servants detested him and that even if he had visitors they did not come for love of him. The some found a sort of amusement in his sharp sarcastic talk which spared no one. So long as he had been strong and well he had gone from one place to another pretending to amuse himself, though he had not really enjoyed it. And when his health began to fail he felt tired of everything and shut himself up at Dorancourt with his gout and his newspapers and his books. But he could not read all the time and he became more and more bored as he called it. He hated the long nights and days and he grew more and more savage and irritable. And then Fauntleroy came and when the Earl saw him fortunately for the little fellow the secret pride of the grandfather was gratified at the outset. If Cedric had been a less handsome little fellow the old man might have taken so strong a dislike to him that he would not have given himself the chance to see his grandson's finer qualities. But he chose to think that Cedric's beauty and fearless spirit were the results of the Dorancourt blood and a credit to the Dorancourt rank. And then when he heard the lad talk and saw what a well-bred little fellow he was notwithstanding his boyish ignorance of all that his new position meant the old Earl liked his grandson more and actually began to find himself rather entertained. It had amused him to give into those childish hands the power to bestow a benefit on poor Higgins. My lord cared nothing for poor Higgins. But it pleased him a little to think that his grandson would be talked about by the country people and would begin to be popular with the tenantry even in his childhood. Then it had gratified him to drive to church with Cedric and to see the excitement and interest caused by the arrival. He knew how people would speak of the beauty of the little lad, of his fine, strong, straight body, of his erect bearing, his handsome face and his bright hair and how they would say, as the Earl had heard one woman exclaim to another, that the boy was every inch a lord. My lord of Dorencourt was an arrogant old man, proud of his name, proud of his rank, and therefore proud to show the world that at last the house of Dorencourt had an heir who was worthy of the position he was to fill. The morning the new pony had been tried, the Earl had been so pleased that he had almost forgotten his gout. When the groom had brought out the pretty creature, which arched its brown glossy neck and crossed its fine head in the sun, the Earl had sat at the open window of the library and had looked on while Fauntleroy took his first riding lesson. He wondered if the boy would show signs of timidity. It was not a very small pony, and he had often seen children lose courage in making their first essay at riding. Fauntleroy mounted in great delight. He had never been on a pony before, and he was in the highest spirits. Wilkins, the groom, led the animal by the bridle up and down before the library window. He's a well-plucked and he is, Wilkins remarked in the stable afterward with many grins. It weren't no trouble to put him up, and an olden wouldn't have sat any straighter when he were up. He says, says he to me, Wilkins, he said, am I sitting up straight? They sit up straight at the circus, says he, and I says, as straight as an arrow, your lordship. And he laughs as pleased as could be, and he says, that's right, he says, you tell me if I don't sit up straight, Wilkins. But sitting up straight and being led at a walk were not altogether in completely satisfactory. After a few minutes, Fauntleroy spoke to his grandfather, watching him from the window. Can't I go by myself, he asked, and can't I go faster? The boy on Fifth Avenue used to trot and canter. Do you think you could trot and canter, said the Earl? I should like to try, answered Fauntleroy. His lordship made a sign to Wilkins, who at the signal brought up his own horse and mounted it, and took Fauntleroy's pony by the leading rein. Now, said the Earl, let him trot. The next few minutes were rather exciting to the small equestrian. He found that trotting was not so easy as walking, and the faster the pony trotted, the less easy it was. It jolts a good deal, doesn't it, he said to Wilkins. Does it j- j- you? No, my lord, answered Wilkins. You'll get used to it in time. Rise in your stirrups. I'm rising all the time, said Fauntleroy. He was both rising and falling rather uncomfortably, and with many shakes and bounces. He was out of breath and his face grew red, but he held on with all his might and sat as straight as he could. The Earl could see that from his window. When the riders came back within speaking distance after they had been hidden by the trees a few minutes, Fauntleroy's hat was off. His cheeks were like poppies and his lips were set, but he was still trotting manfully. Stop a minute, said his grandfather. Where's your hat? Wilkins touched his. It fell off your lordship, he said, with evident enjoyment. Wouldn't let me stop to pick it up, my lord. Not much afraid, is he? asked the Earl dryly. Him, your lordship, exclaimed Wilkins. I shouldn't say as he knowed what it meant. I've taught young gentlemen to ride a four, and I never see one stick on more determiner. Tired, said the Earl to Fauntleroy. Want to get off? It jolts you more than you think it will, admitted his young lordship frankly. And it tires you a little too, but I don't want to get off. I want to learn how. As soon as I've got my breath, I want to go back for the hat. The cleverest person in the world, if he had undertaken to teach Fauntleroy how to please the old man who watched him, could not have taught him anything which would have succeeded better. As the pony trotted off again toward the avenue, a faint color crept up in the fierce old face, and the eyes under the shaggy brows gleamed with a pleasure such as his lordship had scarcely expected to know again. And he sat and watched quite eagerly until the sound of the horse's hoofs returned. When they did come, which was after some time, they came at a faster pace. Fauntleroy's hat was still off. Wilkins was carrying it for him. His cheeks were redder than before, and his hair was flying about his ears, but he came at quite a brisk canter. There, he panted as they drew up, I could canter it. I didn't do it as well as the boy on Fifth Avenue, but I did it and I stayed on. He and Wilkins and the pony were close friends after that. Scarcely a day passed in which the country people did not see them out together, cantering gaily on the high road or through the green lanes. The children in the cottages would run to the door to look at the proud little brown pony with the gallant little figure sitting so straight in the saddle, and the young lord would snatch off his cap and swing it at them and shout, Hello! Good morning! in a very unlordly manner, though with great heartiness. Sometimes he would stop and talk with the children, and once Wilkins came back to the castle with a story of how Fauntleroy had insisted on dismounting near the village school so that a boy who was lame and tired might ride home on his pony. And I'm blessed said Wilkins in telling the story at the stables. I'm blessed if he'd hear of anything else. He wouldn't let me get down because he said the boy might and feel comfortable on a big horse and says he, Wilkins says he, that boy's lame and I'm not and I want to talk to him too. And up the lad has to get, and my lord trudges alongside of him with his hands in his pockets and his cap on the back of his head, a whistling and talking as easy as you please. And when we come to the cottage and the boy's mother come out all in a taken to see what's up, he whips off his cap and says he, I've brought your son home ma'am, says he, because his leg hurt him, and I don't think that stick is enough for him to lean on. And I'm going to ask my grandfather to have a pair of crutches made for him. And I'm blessed if the woman wasn't struck all of a heap as well she might be. I thought I should have exploded myself. When the Earl heard the story he was not angry as Wilkins had been half afraid that he would be. On the contrary, he laughed outright and called Fauntleroy up to him and made him tell all about the matter from beginning to end and then he laughed again and actually a few days later the door and court carriage stopped in the green lane before the cottage where the lame boy lived and Fauntleroy jumped out and walked up to the door carrying a pair of strong, light, new crutches shouldered like a gun and presented them to Mrs. Hartle, the lame boy's name was Hartle, with these words, my grandfather's compliments and if you please, these are for your boy and we hope he will get better. I said your compliments he explained to the Earl when he returned to the carriage you didn't tell me to but I thought perhaps you forgot that was right, wasn't it? and the Earl laughed again and did not say it was not in fact the two were becoming more intimate every day and every day Fauntleroy's faith in his lordship's benevolence and virtue increased he had no doubt whatever that his grandfather was the most amiable and generous of elderly gentlemen certainly he himself found his wishes gratified almost before they were uttered and such gifts and pleasures were lavished upon him that he was sometimes almost bewildered by his own possessions apparently he was to have everything he wanted and to do everything he wished to do and though this certainly would not have been a very wise plan to pursue with all small boys his young lordship bore it amazingly well perhaps not withstanding his sweet nature he might have been somewhat spoiled by it if it had not been for the hours he spent with his mother at Court Lodge that best friend of his watched over him ever closely and tenderly the two had many long talks together and he never went back to the castle with her kisses on his cheeks without carrying in his heart some simple pure words worth remembering there was one thing it is true which puzzled the little fellow very much he thought over the mystery of it much oftener than anyone supposed even his mother did not know how often he pondered on it the Earl for a long time never suspected that he did so at all but being quick to observe the little boy could not help wondering why it was that his mother and grandfather never seemed to meet he had noticed that they never did meet when the door in court carriage stopped at Court Lodge the Earl never alighted and on the rare occasions of his lordships going to church Fauntleroy was always left to speak to his mother in the porch alone or perhaps to go home with her and yet every day fruit and flowers were sent to Court Lodge from the hot houses at the castle but the one virtuous action of the Earl's which had set him upon the pinnacle of perfection in Cedric's eyes was what he had done soon after that first Sunday when Mrs. Earl had walked home from church unattended about a week later when Cedric was going one day to visit his mother he found at the door instead of the large carriage and prancing pair a pretty little broom and a handsome bay horse this is a present from you to your mother the Earl said abruptly she cannot go walking about the country she needs a carriage the man who drives will take charge of it it is a present from you Fauntleroy's delight could but feebly express itself he could scarcely contain himself until he reached the lodge his mother was gathering roses in the garden he flung himself out of the little broom and flew to her dearest he cried could you believe it? this is yours he says it is a present from me it is your own carriage to drive everywhere in he was so happy that she did not know what to say she could not have borne to spoil his pleasure by refusing to accept the gift even though it came from the man who chose to consider himself her enemy she was obliged to step into the carriage roses and all and let herself be taken to drive while Fauntleroy told her stories of his grandfather's goodness and amiability they were such innocent stories that sometimes she could not help laughing a little and then she would draw her little boy closer to her side and kiss him feeling glad that he could see only good in the old man who had so few friends the very next day after that Fauntleroy wrote to Mr. Hobbes he wrote quite a long letter and after the first copy was written he brought it to his grandfather to be inspected because, he said it's so uncertain about the spelling and if you tell me the mistakes I'll write it out again this is what he had written my dear Mr. Hobbes I want to tell you about my grandfather he is the best earl you ever knew it is a mistake about earls being tyrants he is not a tyrant at all I wish you knew him you would be good friends I am sure you would he has gout in his foot and is a great sufferer but he is so patient I love him more every day because no one could help loving an earl like that who is kind to everyone in this world I wish you could talk to him he knows everything in the world you can ask him any question but he has never played baseball he has given me a pony and a cart and my mama has a beautiful carriage and I have three rooms and toys of all kinds it would surprise you you would like the castle and the park it is such a large castle you could lose yourself Wilkins tells me Wilkins is my groom he says there is a dungeon under the castle it is so pretty everything in the park would surprise you there are such big trees and there are deers and rabbits and games flying about in the cover my grandfather is very rich but he is not proud and orty as you thought earls always were I like to be with him the people are so polite and kind they take off their hats to you and the women make curtsies and sometimes say bless you I can ride now but at first it shook me when I trodded my grandfather let a poor man stay on his farm when he could not pay his rent and Mrs. Mellon went to take wine and thanks to his sick children I should like to see you and I wish dearest could live at the castle but I am very happy when I don't miss her too much and I love my grandfather everyone does please write soon old friend Cedric Errol P.S. no one is in the dungeon my grandfather never had anyone languishing in there P.S. he is such a good earl he reminds me of you he is a universal favorite do you miss your mother very much asked the earl when he had finished reading this yes, said Fauntleroy I miss her all the time he went and stood before the earl and put his hand on his knee looking up at him you don't miss her, do you he said I don't know her answered this lordship rather crustily I know that, said Fauntleroy and that's what makes me wonder she told me not to ask you any questions and I won't but sometimes I can't help thinking you know and it makes me all puzzled but I'm not going to ask any questions and when I miss her very much I go and look out my window where I see her light shine for me every night through an open place in the trees it is a long way off but she puts it in her window as soon as it is dark and I can see it twinkle far away and I know what it says what does it say asked my lord it says good night God keep you all the night just what she used to say when we were together every night she used to say that to me and every morning she said God bless you all the day so you see I am quite safe all the time quite I have no doubt said his lordship dryly and he drew down his beatling brows and looked at the little boy so fixedly and so long that Fauntleroy wondered what he could be thinking of End of Chapter 8 Chapter 9 of Little Lord Fauntleroy This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Susan Uncle B Little Lord Fauntleroy by Francis Hodgson Burnett Chapter 9 The fact was his lordship the Earl of Doran Court thought in those days of many things of which he had never thought before his thoughts were in one way or another connected with his grandson His pride was the strongest part of his nature and the boy gratified it at every point Through this pride he began to find a new interest in life he began to take pleasure in showing his heir to the world The world had known of his disappointment in his sons so there was an agreeable touch of triumph in exhibiting this new Lord Fauntleroy who could disappoint no one He wished the child to appreciate his own power and to understand the splendor of his position He wished that others should realize it too He made plans for his future Sometimes in secret he actually found himself wishing that his own past life had been a better one and that there had been less in it that this pure childish heart would shrink from if it knew the truth It was not agreeable to think how the beautiful, innocent face would look if its owner should be made by any chance to understand that his grandfather had been called for many a year the wicked Earl of Dorencourt The thought even made him a trifle nervous He did not wish the boy to find it out Sometimes in this new interest he forgot his gout and after a while his doctor was surprised to find his noble patient's health growing better than he had expected it ever would be again Perhaps the Earl grew better because the time did not pass so slowly for him and he had something to think of besides his pains and infirmities One fine morning people were amazed to see little Lord Fauntleroy riding his pony with another companion than Wilkins This new companion rode a tall, powerful grey horse and was no other than the Earl himself It was in fact Fauntleroy who had suggested this plan As he had been on the point of mounting his pony he had said rather wistfully to his grandfather I wish you were going with me When I go away I feel lonely because you were left all by yourself in such a big castle I wish you could ride too and the greatest excitement had been aroused in the stables a few minutes later by the arrival of an order that Celine was to be saddled for the Earl After that Celine was saddled almost every day and the people became accustomed to the sight of the tall grey horse carrying the tall grey old man with his handsome, fierce eagle face by the side of the brown pony which bore little Lord Fauntleroy And in their rides together through the green lanes and pretty country roads the two riders became more intimate than ever and gradually the old man heard a great deal about dearest and her life As Fauntleroy trotted by the big horse he chatted gaily There could not well have been a brighter little comrade his nature was so happy It was he who talked the most The Earl was often silent listening and watching the joyous glowing face Sometimes he would tell his young companion to set the pony off at a gallop and when the little fellow dashed off sitting so straight and fearless he would watch him with a gleam of pride and pleasure in his eyes and when after such a dash he came back waving his cap with a laughing shout he always felt that he and his grandfather were very good friends indeed One thing that the Earl discovered was that his son's wife did not lead an idle life It was not long before he learned that the poor people knew her very well indeed When there was sickness or sorrow or poverty in any house the little broom often stood before the door Do you know said Fauntleroy once they all say God bless you when they see her and the children are glad There are some who go to her house to be taught to sew She says she feels so rich now that she wants to help the poor ones It had not displeased the Earl to find that the mother of his heir had a beautiful young face and looked as much like a lady as if she had been a duchess and in one way it did not displease him to know that she was popular and yet he was often conscious of a hard jealous pang when he saw how she filled her child's heart and how the boy clung to her as his best beloved The old man would have desired to stand first himself and have no rival That same morning he drew up his horse on an elevated point of the moor over which they rode and made a gesture with his whip over the broad beautiful landscape spread before them Do you know that all that land belongs to me? he said to Fauntleroy Does it? answered Fauntleroy How much it is to belong to one person and how beautiful Do you know that someday it will all belong to you that and a great deal more To me exclaimed Fauntleroy in rather an ostrich and voice When? When I am dead his grandfather answered I don't want it, said Fauntleroy I want you to live always That's kind answered the Earl in his dry way Nevertheless someday it will all be yours someday you will be the Earl of Doran Court Little Lord Fauntleroy sat very still in his saddle for a few moments He looked over the broad moors the green farms the beautiful copses in the lanes, the pretty village and over the trees to wear the turrets of the great castle rose gray and stately then he gave a queer little sigh What are you thinking of? asked the Earl I am thinking replied Fauntleroy what a little boy I am and of what Dearest said to me What was it? inquired the Earl She said that perhaps it was that if anyone had so many things always one might sometimes forget that everyone else was not so fortunate and that one who is rich should always be careful and try to remember I was talking to her about how good you were and she said that was such a good thing because an Earl had so much power and if he cared only about his own pleasure and never thought about the people who lived on his lands they might have trouble that he could help and there were so many people and it would be such a hard thing and I was just looking at all those houses and thinking how I should have to find out about the people when I was an Earl How did you find out about them? As his lordship's knowledge of his tenantry consisted in finding out which of them paid their rent promptly and in turning out those who did not this was rather a hard question Newick finds out for me he said and he pulled his great grey mustache and looked at his small questioner rather uneasily We will go home now he added and when you are an Earl see to it that you are a better Earl than I have been He was very silent as they wrote home He felt it to be almost incredible that he who had never really loved anyone in his life should find himself growing so fond of this little fellow as without doubt he was At first he had only been pleased and proud of Cedric's beauty and bravery but there was something more than pride in his feeling now He laughed a grim dry laugh all to himself sometimes when he thought how he liked to have the boy near him how he liked to hear his voice and how in secret he really wished to be liked and thought well of by his small grandson I am an old fellow in my dotage and I have nothing else to think of he would say to himself and yet he knew it was not that all together and if he had allowed himself to admit the truth he would perhaps have found himself obliged to own that the very things which attracted him in spite of himself were the qualities he had never possessed the frank true kindly nature the affectionate trustfulness which could never think evil but a week after that ride when after a visit to his mother Fauntleroy came into the library with a troubled, thoughtful face he sat down in that high back chair in which he had sat on the evening of his arrival and for a while he looked at the embers on the hearth the Earl watched him in silence wondering what was coming it was evident that Cedric had something on his mind at last he looked up does Newwick know all about the people he asked it is his business to know about them said his lordship been neglecting it has he contradictory as it may seem there was nothing which entertained and edified him more than the little fellow's interest in his tenetry he had never taken any interest in them himself but it pleased him well enough that with all his childish habits of thought and in the midst of all his childish amusements and high spirits there should be such a quaint seriousness working in the curly head there is a place said Fauntleroy looking up at him with wide open horror-stricken eyes dearest has seen it it is at the other end of the village the houses are close together and almost falling down you can scarcely breathe and the people are so poor and everything is dreadful often they have fever and the children die and it makes them wicked to live like that and be so poor and miserable it is worse than Michael and Bridget the rain comes in at the roof dearest went to see a poor woman who lived there she would not let me come near her until she had changed all her things the tears ran down her cheeks when she told me about it the tears had come into his own eyes but he smiled through them I told her you didn't know and I would tell you he said he jumped down and came and leaned against the Earl's chair you can make it alright he said just as you made it alright for Higgins you always make it alright for everybody I told her you would and that Newwick must have forgotten to tell you the Earl looked down at the hand on his knee Newwick had not forgotten to tell him in fact Newwick had spoken to him more than once of the desperate condition of the end of the village known as Earl's Court he knew all about the tumbled down miserable cottages and the bad drainage and the damp walls and broken windows and leaking roofs and all about the poverty the fever and the misery Mr. Morton had painted it all to him in the strongest words he could use and his lordship had used violent language and response and when his gout had been at the worst he had said that the sooner the people of Earl's Court died and were buried by the parish the better it would be and there was an end of the matter and yet as he looked at the small hand on his knee and from the small hand to the honest earnest frank-eyed face he was actually a little ashamed both of Earl's Court and himself what he said you want to make a builder of model cottages of me do you and he positively put his own hand upon the childish one and stroked it those must be pulled down said Fauntleroy with great eagerness dearest says so let us go and have them pulled down tomorrow the people will be so glad when they see you they'll know you have come to help them and his eyes shone like stars in his glowing face the Earl rose from his chair and put his hand on the child's shoulder let us go out and take our walk on the terrace he said with a short laugh and we can talk it over and though he left two or three times again as they walked to and fro on the Broadstone Terrace where they walked together almost every fine evening he seemed to be thinking of something which did not displease him and still he kept his hand on his small companion's shoulder end of chapter 9 chapter 10 of little Lord Fauntleroy this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Susan Unpleby little Lord Fauntleroy by Francis Hodgson Burnett chapter 10 the truth was that Mrs. Errol had found a great many said things in the course of her work among the poor of the little village that appeared so picturesque when it was seen from the Moorsides everything was not as picturesque when seen nearby as it looked from a distance she had found idleness and poverty and ignorance where there should have been comfort and industry and she had discovered after a while that Earlborough was considered to be the worst village in that part of the country Mr. Mordent had told her a great many of his difficulties and discouragements she had found out a great deal by herself the agents who had managed the property had always been chosen to please the Earl and had cared nothing for the degradation and wretchedness of the poor tenants many things therefore had been neglected which should have been attended to and matters had gone from bad to worse as to Earl's court it was a disgrace with its dilapidated houses and miserable careless sickly people when first Mrs. Earl went to the place it made her shudder such ugliness and slovenliness and want seemed worse in a country place than in a city it seemed as if there it might be helped and as she looked at the squalid uncared for children growing up in the midst of vice and brutal indifference she thought of her own little boy spending his days in the great splendid castle guarded and served like a young prince having no wish ungratified and knowing nothing but luxury and ease and beauty and a bold thought came in her wise little mother heart gradually she had begun to see as had others that it had been her boy's good fortune to please the Earl very much and that he would scarcely be likely to be denied anything for which he expressed a desire the Earl would give him anything he said to Mr. Mordent he would indulge his every whim why should not that indulgence be used for the good of others it is for me to see that this shall come to pass she knew she could trust the kind childish heart so she told the little fellow the story of Earl's court feeling sure that he would speak of it to his grandfather and hoping that some good results would follow good results did follow the fact was that the strongest power to influence the Earl was his grandson's perfect confidence in him the fact that Cedric always believed that his grandfather was going to do what was right and generous he could not quite make up his mind to let him discover that he had no inclination to be generous at all and that he wanted his own way on all occasions whether it was right or wrong it was such a novelty to be regarded with admiration as a benefactor of the entire human race and the soul of nobility that he did not enjoy the idea of looking into the affectionate brown eyes and saying I am a violent selfish old rascal I never did a generous thing in my life and I don't care about Earl's court or the poor people or something which would amount to the same thing he actually had learned to be fond enough of that small boy with the mop of yellow love locks to feel that he himself would prefer to be guilty of an amiable action now and then and so though he laughed at himself after some reflection he sent for Newick and had quite a long interview with him on the subject of the court and it was decided that the wretched hovel should be pulled down and new houses should be built it is Lord Fauntleroy who insists on it he said dryly he thinks it will improve the property you can tell the tenants that it's his idea and he looked down at his small lordship who was lying on the hearth rug playing with Dougal the great dog was the lads constant companion and followed him about everywhere stalking solemnly after him when he walked and trotting majestically behind when he rode or drove of course both the country people and the town people heard of the proposed improvement at first many of them would not believe it but when a small army of workmen arrived and commenced pulling down the crazy squalid cottages people began to understand that little lord Fauntleroy had done them a good turn again and that through his innocent interference the scandal of Earl's court had at last been removed if he had only known how they talked about him and praised him everywhere and prophesied great things for him when he grew up how astonished he would have been but he never suspected it he lived his simple happy child life frolicking about in the park chasing the rabbits to their burrows lying under the trees on the grass or on the rug in the library reading wonderful books and talking to the Earl about them and telling the stories again to his mother writing long letters to Dick and Mr. Hobbes who responded in characteristic fashion writing out at his grandfather's side or with Wilkins's escort as they rode through the market town he used to see the people turn and look and he noticed that as they lifted their hats their faces often brightened very much but he thought it was all because his grandfather was with him they are so fond of you he once said looking up at his lordship with a bright smile do you see how glad they are when they see you I hope they will someday be as fond of me it must be nice to have everybody like you and he felt quite proud to be the grandson of so greatly admired and beloved an individual when the cottages were being built the lad and his grandfather used to ride over to Earl's court together to look at them and Fauntleroy was full of interest he would dismount from his pony and go and make acquaintance with a workman asking them questions about building in brick lane and telling them things about America after two or three such conversations he was able to enlighten the Earl on the subject of brick making as they rode home I always like to know about things like those he said because you never know what you are coming to when he left them the workman used to talk him over among themselves and laugh at his odd innocent speeches but they liked him and liked to see him stand among them talking away with his hands in his pockets his hat pushed back on his curls and his small face full of eagerness he's a rarren they used to say and a noice little outspoken chap too not much of the bad stock in him and they would go home and tell their wives about him and the women would tell each other and so it came about that almost everyone talked of or knew some story of Funtler Roy and gradually almost everyone knew that the wicked Earl had found something he cared for at last something which had touched and even warmed his hard bitter old heart but no one knew quite how much it had been warmed and how day by day the old man found himself caring more and more for the child who was the only creature that had ever trusted him he found himself looking forward to find when Cedric would be a young man strong and beautiful with life all before him but having still that kind heart and the power to make friends everywhere and the Earl wondered what the lad would do and how he would use his gifts often as he watched the little fellow lying upon the hearth conning some big book the light shining on the bright young head his old eyes would gleam and his cheek would flush the boy can do anything he would say to himself anything he never spoke to anyone else of his feeling for Cedric when he spoke of him to others it was always with the same grim smile but Funtler Roy soon knew that his grandfather loved him and always liked him to be near near to his chair if they were in the library opposite to him at table or by his side when he rode or drove or took his evening walk on the broad terrace do you remember Cedric said once looking up from his book as he lay on the rug do you remember what I said to you that first night about our being good companions I don't think any people could be better companions than we are do you we are pretty good companions I should say replied his lordship come here Funtler Roy scrambled up and went to him is there anything you want the Earl asked anything you have not the little fellows brown eyes fixed themselves on his grandfather with a rather wistful look only one thing he answered what is that inquired the Earl Funtler Roy was silent a second he had not thought matters over to himself so long for nothing what is it my lord repeated Funtler Roy answered it is dearest he said the old Earl winced a little but you see her almost every day he said is not that enough I used to see her all the time said Funtler Roy she used to kiss me when I went to sleep at night and in the morning she was always there and we could tell each other things without waiting the old eyes and the young ones looked into each other through a moment of silence then the Earl knitted his brows do you never forget about your mother he said no answered Funtler Roy never and she never forgets about me I shouldn't forget about you you know if I didn't live with you I should think about you all the more upon my word said the Earl after looking at him a moment longer I believe you would the jealous pang that came he spoke so of his mother seemed even stronger than it had been before it was stronger because of this old man's increasing affection for the boy but it was not long before he had other pangs so much harder to face that he almost forgot for the time he had ever hated his son's wife at all and in a strange and startling way it happened one evening just before the Earl's court cottages were completed at the dinner party at Dorncourt there had not been such a party at the castle for a long time a few days before it took place Sir Harry Lorydale and Lady Lorydale who was the Earl's only sister actually came for a visit a thing which caused the greatest excitement in the village and set Mrs. Dibble's shop bell tinkling madly again because it was well known that Lady Lorydale had only been to Dorncourt once since her marriage thirty-five years before she was a handsome old lady with white curls and dimpled peachy cheeks and she was as good as gold but she had never approved of her brother any more than did the rest of the world and having a strong will of her own and not being at all afraid to speak her mind frankly she had after several lively quarrels with his lordship seen very little of him since her young days she had heard a great deal of him that was not pleasant through the years in which they had been separated she had heard about his neglect of his wife and of the poor lady's death and of his indifference to his children and of the two weak, vicious, unprepossessing elder boys who had been no credit to him or to anyone else those two elder sons Bevis and Morris she had never seen but once there had come to Lorydale Park a tall, stalwart, beautiful young fellow about eighteen years old who had told her that he was her nephew Cedric Errol and that he had come to see her because he was passing near the place and wished to look at his aunt Constancia of whom he had heard his mother speak Lady Lorydale's kind heart had warmed through and through at the sight of the young man and she had made him stay with her a week and petted him and made much of him and admired him immensely he was so sweet-tempered light-hearted and spirited a lad that when he went away she had hoped to see him often again but she never did because the Earl had been in a bad humor when he went back to Doron Court and had forbidden him ever to go to Lorydale Park again but Lady Lorydale had always remembered him tenderly and though she feared he had made a rash marriage in America she had been very angry when she heard how he had been cast off by his father and that no one really knew where at last there came a rumor of his death and then Bevis had been thrown from his horse and killed and Morris had died in Rome of the fever and soon after came the story of the American child who was to be found and brought home as Lord Fauntleroy probably to be ruined as the others were she said to her husband unless his mother is good enough and has a will of her own to help her take care of him but when she heard that Cedric's mother had been parted from him she was almost too indignant for words it is disgraceful Harry she said fancy a child of that age being taken from his mother and made the companion of a man like my brother he will either be brutal to the boy or indulge him until he is a little monster if I thought it would do any good to write it wouldn't Constantia said Sir Harry she answered I know his lordship the Earl of Dorancourt too well but it is outrageous not only the poor people and farmers heard about little Lord Fauntleroy others knew him he was talked about so much and there were so many stories of him of his beauty, his sweet temper his popularity and his growing influence over the Earl his grandfather that rumors of him reached the gentry at their country places and more than one county in England people talked about him at the dinner tables ladies pitted his young mother and wondered if the boy were as handsome as he was said to be and men who knew the Earl and his habits laughed heartily at the stories of the little fellow's belief in his lordship's amiability Sir Thomas Ash of Ashaw Hall being an Earl borough one day met the Earl and his grandson writing together hands with my lord and congratulated him on his change of looks and on his recovery from the gout and do you know he said when he spoke of the incident afterward the old man looked as proud as a turkey cock and upon my word I don't wonder for a handsomer finer lad than his grandson I never saw as straight as a dart and sat his pony like a young trooper and so by degrees lady Laura Dale too heard of the child she heard about Higgins and the lame boy and the cottages at Earl's court and a score of other things and she began to wish to see the little fellow and just as she was wondering how it might be brought about to her utter astonishment she received a letter from her brother inviting her to come with her husband to door and court it seems incredible she exclaimed I have heard it said that the child has worked miracles and I begin to believe it they say my brother adores the boy and can scarcely endure to have him out of sight and he is so proud of him actually I believe he wants to show him to us and she accepted the invitation at once when she reached door and court castle Sir Harry it was late in the afternoon and she went to her room at once before seeing her brother having dressed for dinner she entered the drawing room the Earl was there standing near the fire and looking very tall and imposing and at his sides did a little boy in black velvet and a large van dyke collar of rich lace a little fellow whose round bright face was so handsome and who turned upon her such beautiful candid brown eyes that she almost uttered an exclamation of pleasure and surprise at the sight as she shook hands with the Earl she called him by the name she had not used since her girlhood what Molly knew she said is this the child yes konstantia answered the Earl this is the boy vauntleroy this is your grand aunt lady lauderdale how do you do grand aunt said vauntleroy lady lauderdale put her hand on his shoulders and after looking down into his up raised face a few seconds kissed him warmly I am your aunt konstantia said and I loved your poor papa and you are very like him it makes me glad when I am told I am like him answered vauntleroy because it seems as if everyone liked him just like dearest exactly at konstantia adding the two words after a seconds pause lady lauderdale was delighted she bent and kissed him again and from that moment they were warm friends well Molly knew she set aside to the Earl afterward it could not possibly be better than this I think not answered his lordship dryly he is a fine little fellow we are great friends he believes me to be the most charming and sweet temperate of philanthropists I will confess to you konstantia as you would find it out if I did not that I am in some slight danger of becoming rather an old fool about him what does his mother think of you ask lady lauderdale with her usual straightforwardness I have not asked her answered the Earl slightly scowling well said lady lauderdale I will be frank with you at the outset Molly knew and tell you I don't approve of your course and that it is my intention to call on Mrs. Arrow as soon as possible so if you wish to quarrel with me you had better mention it at once what I hear of the young creature makes me quite sure that her child owes her everything we were told even at lauderdale park that your poorer tenants adore her already they adore him said the Earl nodding toward fontleroy as to Mrs. Arrow you will find her a pretty little woman I am rather in debt to her for giving some of her beauty to the boy and you can go see her if you like all I ask is that she will remain engaged and that you will not ask me to go and see her and he scowled a little again but he doesn't hate her as much as he used to that is plain enough to me her ladyship said to sir harry afterward and he is a changed man in a measure and incredible as it may seem harry it is my opinion that he is being made into a human being through nothing more nor less than his affection for that innocent affectionate little fellow why the child actually loves him leans on his chair and against his knee his own children would as soon have thought of nestling up to a tiger the very next day she went to call upon Mrs. Arrow when she returned she said to her brother mauling you she is the loveliest little woman I ever saw she has a voice like a silver bell and you may thank her for making the boy what he is she has given him more than her beauty and you make a great mistake in not persuading her to come and take charge of you I shall invite her to laura dale she'll not leave the boy replied the earl I must have the boy too said lady laura dale laughing but she knew faultler why would not be given up to her and each day she saw more clearly how closely those two had grown to each other and how all the proud grim old man's ambition and love and hope brought themselves in the child and how the warm innocent nature returned his affection with most perfect trust and good faith she knew too that the prime reason for the great dinner party was the earl's secret desire to show the world his grandson and heir and to let people see that the boy who had been so much spoken of and described was even a finer little specimen of boyhood than rumor had made him beves and morris were such a bitter humiliation to him she said to her husband everyone knew it he actually hated them his pride has full sway here perhaps there was not one person who accepted the invitation without feeling some curiosity about little lord faultleroy and wondering if he would be on view and when the time came he was on view the lad has good manners said the earl children are usually idiots or boars mine were both but he can actually answer when he's spoken to and be silent when he is not he is never offensive but he was not allowed to be silent very long everyone had something to say to him the fact was they wished to make him talk the ladies petted him and asked him questions and the men asked him questions too and joked with him what did the steamer had done when he crossed the Atlantic faultleroy did not quite understand why they laughed so sometimes when he answered them but he was so used to seeing people amused when he was quite serious that he did not mind he thought the whole evening delightful the magnificent rooms were so brilliant with lights there were so many flowers the gentlemen seemed so gay and the ladies wore such beautiful plain ornaments in their hair and on their necks there was one young lady who he heard them say had just come down from London where she had spent the season and she was so charming that he could not keep his eyes from her she was a rather tall young lady with a proud little head and very soft dark hair and large eyes the color of purple pansies and the color on her cheeks and lips was like that of a rose she was dressed in a beautiful white dress and had pearls around her throat there was one strange thing about this young lady so many gentlemen stood near her and seemed so anxious to please her that Faultleroy thought she must be something like a princess he was so much interested in her that without knowing it he drew nearer and nearer to her and at last she turned and spoke to him come here Lord Faultleroy and said smiling and tell me why you look at me so I was thinking how beautiful you are his young lordship replied then all the gentlemen laughed outright and the young lady laughed a little too and the rose color in her cheeks brightened ah Faultleroy said one of the gentlemen who had laughed most heartily make the most of your time when you are older you will not have the courage to say that he could help saying it said Faultleroy sweetly could you help it don't you think she is pretty too we are not allowed to say what we think said the gentlemen while the rest laughed more than ever but the beautiful young lady her name was Miss Vivian Herbert put out her hand and drew Cedric to her side looking prettier than before if possible Lord Faultleroy shall say what he thinks she said and I am much obliged to him I am sure he thinks what he says and she kissed him on his cheek I think you are prettier than anyone I ever saw said Faultleroy looking at her with innocent admiring eyes except dearest of course I couldn't think anyone quite as pretty as dearest I think she is the prettiest person in the world I am sure she is said Miss Vivian Herbert laughed and kissed his cheek again she kept him by her side a great part of the evening and the group of which they were the sender was very gay he did not know how it happened but before long he was telling them all about America and the Republican rally and Mr. Homs and Dick and in the end he proudly produced from his pocket Dick's parting gift the red silk handkerchief I put it in my pocket tonight because it was a party he said I thought Dick would like me to wear it at a party and queer as the big flaming spotted thing was there was a serious affectionate look in his eyes which prevented his audience from laughing very much you see I like it he said because Dick is my friend but though he was talked to so much as the Earl had said he was in no one's way he could be quiet and listen when others talked and so no one found him tiresome a slight smile crossed more than one face when several times he went and stood near his grandfather's chair or sat on a stool close to him watching him and absorbing every word he uttered with the most charmed interest once he stood so near the chair's arm that his cheek touched the Earl's shoulder and his lordship, detecting the general smile, smiled a little himself he knew what the looker's arm were thinking and he felt some secret amusement in their scene what good friends he was with this youngster who might have been expected to share the popular opinion of him Mr. Havisham had been expected to arrive in the afternoon but strange to say he was late such a thing had really never been known to happen before during all the years in which he had been a visitor at Doron Court Castle he was so late that the guests were on the point of rising to go into dinner when he arrived when he approached his host the Earl regarded him with amazement he looked as if he had been hurried or agitated his dry, keen old face was actually pale I was detained, he said in a low voice to the Earl by an extraordinary event it was as unlike the methodical lawyer to be agitated by anything as it was to be late but it was evident that he had been disturbed at dinner he ate scarcely anything and two or three times when he was spoken to he started as if his thoughts were far away at dessert when Fauntleroy came in he looked at him more than once nervously and uneasily Fauntleroy noted the look and wondered at it he and Mr. Havisham were on friendly terms and they usually had exchanged smiles the lawyer seemed to have forgotten his smile that evening the fact was he forgot everything but the strange and painful news he knew he must tell the Earl before the night was over the strange news which he knew would be so terrible a shock and which would change the face of everything as he looked about at the splendid rooms and the brilliant company as the people gathered together he knew more that they might see the bright-haired little fellow near the Earl's chair than for any other reason as he looked at the proud old man and at little Lord Fauntleroy smiling at his side he really felt quite shaken not withstanding that he was a hardened old lawyer what a blow it was that he must deal them he did not exactly know how the long superb dinner ended he sat through it as if he were in a dream and several times he saw the Earl glance at him in surprise but it was over at last the gentlemen joined the ladies in the drawing room they found Fauntleroy sitting on the sofa with Miss Vivian Herbert the great beauty of the last London season they had been looking at some pictures and he was thanking his companion as the door opened I am ever so much obliged to you for being so kind to me he was saying I never was at a party before and I've enjoyed myself so much he had enjoyed himself so much that when the gentlemen gathered about Miss Herbert again and began to talk to her as he listened and tried to understand their laughing speeches his eyelids began to droop they drooped until they covered his eyes two or three times and then the sound of Miss Herbert's low pretty laugh would bring him back and he would open them again for about two seconds he was quite sure he was not going to sleep but there was a large yellow satin cushion behind him that sank against it and after a while his eyelids drooped for the last time they did not even quite open when as it seemed a long time after someone kissed him lightly on the cheek it was Miss Vivian Herbert who was going away and she spoke to him softly good night little lord Fauntleroy she said sleep well and in the morning he did not know that he had tried to open his eyes and had murmured sleepily good night I am so glad I saw you you are so pretty he only had a very faint recollection of hearing the gentleman laugh again and of wondering why they did it no sooner had the last guest left the room than Mr. Havashem turned from his place by the fire and stepped nearer the sofa where he stood looking down at the sleeping occupant little lord Fauntleroy was taking his ease luxuriously one leg crossed the other and swung over the edge of the sofa one arm was flung easily above his head the warm flush of healthful happy childish sleep was on his quiet face his waving tangle of bright hair strayed over the yellow satin cushion he made a picture well worth looking at as Mr. Havashem looked at it he put his hand up and rubbed his shaven chin with a hearest countenance well Havashem said the earl's harsh voice behind him what is it it is evident something has happened what was the extraordinary event if I may ask Mr. Havashem turned from the sofa still rubbing his chin it was bad news he answered distressing news my lord the worst of news I am sorry to be the bearer of it the earl had been uneasy for some time during the evening as he glanced at Mr. Havashem and when he was uneasy he was always ill tempered why do you look so at the boy he exclaimed irritably you have been looking at him all the evening as if see here now why should you look at the boy Havashem and hang over him like some bird of ill omen what has your news to do with Lord Fauntleroy my lord said Mr. Havashem I will waste no words my news has everything to do with Lord Fauntleroy and if we are to believe it it is not Lord Fauntleroy who lies sleeping before us but only the son of Captain Errol and the present Lord Fauntleroy is the son of your son Bevis and is at this moment in a lodging house in London the earl clutched the arms of his chair with both his hands until the vein stood out upon them the vein stood out upon his forehead too his fierce old face was almost livid what do you mean he cried out you are mad whose lie is this if it is a lie answered Mr. Havashem it is painfully like the truth a woman came to my chambers this morning she said your son Bevis married her six years ago in London she showed me her marriage certificate they quarreled a year after the marriage and he paid her to keep away from him she has a son five years old she is an American of the lower classes an ignorant person and until lately she did not fully understand what her son could claim she consulted a lawyer and found out that the boy was really Lord Fauntleroy and the heir to the earldom of Dorincourt and she of course insists on his claims being acknowledged there was a movement of the curly head on the yellow satin cushion a soft long sleepy sigh came from the parted lips and the little boy stirred in his sleep but not at all restlessly or uneasily not at all as if his slumber were disturbed by the fact that he was being proved a small imposter and that he was not Lord Fauntleroy at all and never would be the earl of Dorincourt he only turned his rosy face more on its side as if to enable the old man who stared at it so solemnly to see it better the handsome grim old face was ghastly a bitter smile fixed itself upon it I should refuse to believe a word of it he said if it were not such a low scoundrely piece of business that it becomes quite possible in connection with the name of my son Bevis it is quite like Bevis he was always a disgrace to us always a weak untruthful vicious young root with low tastes my son and heir Lord Fauntleroy the woman is an ignorant vulgar person you say I am obliged to admit that she can scarcely spell her own name answered the lawyer she is absolutely uneducated and openly mercenary she cares for nothing but the money she is very handsome in a course way but the fastidious old lawyer ceased speaking and gave a sort of shutter the veins on the old Earl's forehead stood out like purple cords something else stood out upon it too cold drops of moisture he took out his handkerchief and swept them away his smile grew even more bitter and I he said I objected to to the other woman the mother of this child pointing to the sleeping form on the sofa I refused to recognize her and yet she could spell her own name I suppose this is retribution suddenly he sprang up from his chair and began to walk up and down the room fierce and terrible words poured forth from his lips his rage and hatred and cruel disappointment shook him as a storm shakes a tree his violence was something dreadful to see and yet Mr. Havish have noticed that at the very worst of his wrath he never seemed to forget the little sleeping figure on the yellow satin cushion and that he never once spoke loud enough to awaken it I might have known it he said they were a disgrace to me from their first hour I hated them both and they hated me Bevis was the worst of the two I will not believe this yet though I will contend against it to the last but it is like Bevis it is like him and then he raged again he asked questions about the woman about her proofs and pacing the room turned first white and then purple in his repressed fury when at last he had learned all there was to be told and knew the worst Mr. Havish am looked at him with a feeling of anxiety he looked broken and haggard and changed his rages had always been bad for him but this one had been worse than the rest because there had been something more than rage in it slowly back to the sofa at last and stood near it if anyone had told me I could be fond of a child he said his harsh voice low and unsteady I should not have believed them I always detested children my own more than the rest I am fond of this one he is fond of me with a bitter smile I am not popular I never was but he is fond of me he never was afraid of me he always trusted me he would have filled my place better than I have filled it I know that he would have been an honor to the name he bent down and stood a minute or so looking at the happy sleeping face his shaggy eyebrows were knitted fiercely and yet somehow he did not seem fierce at all he put up his hand pushing the bright hair back from the forehead and then turned away and rang the bell when the largest footman appeared he pointed to the sofa take, he said and then his voice changed a little take Lord Fauntleroy to his room End of Chapter 10 Chapter 11 of Little Lord Fauntleroy This is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information and tier, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Susan Umpleby Little Lord Fauntleroy by Francis Hodgson Burnett Chapter 11 When Mr. Hobbes' young friend left him to go to Doron Court Castle and become Lord Fauntleroy and the grocery man had time to realize that the Atlantic Ocean lay between himself and the small companion who had spent so many agreeable hours in his society began to feel very lonely indeed The fact was Mr. Hobbes was not a clever man nor even a bright one he was indeed rather a slow and heavy person and he had never made many acquaintances he was not mentally energetic enough to know how to amuse himself and in truth he never did anything of an entertaining nature but read the newspapers and add up his accounts it was not very easy for him to read his accounts and sometimes it took him a long time to bring them out right and in the old days Little Lord Fauntleroy who had learned how to add up quite nicely with his fingers and a slate and pencil had sometimes even gone to the length of trying to help him and then too he had been so good a listener and had taken such an interest in what the newspaper said and he and Mr. Hobbes had held such long conversations that it was no wonder his going left a blank in the grocery store at first it seemed to Mr. Hobbes that Cedric was not really far away and would come back again that some day he would look up from his paper and see the little lad standing in the doorway in his white suit and red stockings and with his straw hat on the back of his head and would hear him say in his cheerful little voice Hello Mr. Hobbes this is a hot day, isn't it but as the days passed on and this did not happen Mr. Hobbes felt very dull and uneasy he did not even enjoy his newspaper as much as he used to he would put the paper down on his knee after reading it and sit and stare at the high stool for a long time there were some marks on the long legs which made him feel quite dejected and melancholy they were marks made by the heels of the next Earl of Dorincourt when he kicked and talked at the same time it seems that even youthful earls kicked the legs of things they sit on noble blood and lofty lineage do not prevent it after looking at those marks Mr. Hobbes would take out his gold watch and open it and stare at the inscription from his oldest friend Lord Fauntleroy to Mr. Hobbes when this you see remember me and after staring at it a while he would shut it up with a loud snap and sigh and get up and go and stand in the doorway between the box of potatoes and the barrel of apples and look up the street at night when the store was closed he would light his pipe and walk slowly along the pavement until he reached the house where Cedric had lived on which there was a sign that read this house to let and he would stop near it and look up and shake his head and get his pipe very hard and after a while walk mournfully back again this went on for two or three weeks before any new idea came to him being slow and ponderous it always took him a long time to reach a new idea as a rule he did not like new ideas but preferred old ones after two or three weeks however during which instead of getting better matters really grew worse the novel plans slowly and deliberately dawned upon him he would go to see Dick he smoked a great many pipes before he arrived at the conclusion but finally he did arrive at it he would go to see Dick he knew all about Dick Cedric had told him and his idea was that perhaps Dick might be some comfort to him in the way of talking things over so one day when Dick was very hard at work walking to customers boots a short stout man with a heavy face and a bald head stopped on the pavement and stared for two or three minutes at the boot black sign which read Professor Dick Tipton can't be beat he stared at it so long that Dick began to take a lively interest in him and when he had put the finishing touch to his customers boots he said want a shine sir the stout man came forward deliberately and put his foot on the rest yes he said then when Dick fell to work the stout man looked from Dick to the sign and from the sign to Dick where did you get that he asked from a friend of mine said Dick a little feller he gave me the whole outfit he was the best little feller you ever saw he's in England now gone to be one of them lords Lord asked Mr. Hobbes with ponderous slowness Lord Fauntleroy going to be Earl of Dorancourt Dick almost dropped his brush why boss he exclaimed do you know him yourself I have known him answered Mr. Hobbes wiping his warm forehead ever since he was born we was lifetime acquaintances that's what we was it really made him feel quite agitated to speak of it he pulled the splendid gold watch out of his pocket and opened it and showed the inside of the case to Dick when this you see remember me he read that was his parting keepsake to me I don't want you to forget me those was his words I had a remembered him he went on shaking his head if he hadn't given me a thing I'd have seen Haydn or hear on him again he was a companion as any man would remember he was the nicest little feller I ever see said Dick and as to sand I never seen so much sand to a little feller I thought a heap of him I did and we was friends too we was sort of chums from the first that little youngen and me I grabbed his ball from under a stage for him and he never forgot it and he'd come down here he would with his mother or his nurse and he'd holler Hello Dick at me as friendly as if he was six feet high when he wore knee-high to a grasshopper and was dressed in gal's clothes he was a gay little chap and when you was down on your luck it did you good to talk to him that's so said Mr. Hobbes it was a pity to make an earl out of him he would have shone in the grocery business or dry goods either he would have shone and he shook his head with deeper regret than ever it proved that they had so much to say to each other that it was not possible to say it all at one time and so it was agreed that the next night Dick should make a visit to the store and keep Mr. Hobbes company the prime please Dick well enough he had been a street wave nearly all his life but he had never been a bad boy and he had always had a private yearning for a more respectable kind of existence since he had been in business for himself he had made enough money to enable him to sleep under a roof instead of out in the streets and he had began to hope he might reach even a higher plane in time so to be invited to call on a stout respectable man who owned a corner store and even had a horse and wagon seemed to him quite an event do you know anything about earls and castles Mr. Hobbes inquired I'd like to know more of the particulars there's a story about some of them in the penny story Gazette said Dick it's called the crime of a coronet or the revenge of the Countess May it's a boss thing too some of us boys are taking it to read bring it up when you come said Mr. Hobbes and I'll pay for it bring all you can find that have any earls in them if there aren't earls, Marcus's will do or Dukes though he never made mention of any Dukes or Marcus's we did go over coronets a little but I never happened to see any I guess they don't keep them around here Tiffany'd have them if anybody did said Dick but I don't know as I'd know one if I saw it Mr. Hobbes did not explain that he would not have known one if he saw it he merely shook his head ponderously I suppose there's very little call for him he said and that ended the matter this was the beginning of quite a substantial friendship when Dick went up to the store Mr. Hobbes received him with great hospitality he gave him a chair tilted against the door near a barrel of apples and after his young visitor was seated he made a jerk at them with the hand pipe saying help yourself then he looked at the story papers and after that they read and discussed the British aristocracy and Mr. Hobbes smoked his pipe very hard and shook his head a great deal he shook it most when he pointed out the high stool with the marks on its legs there's his very kicks he said impressively his very kicks I sit and look at him by the hour this is a world of ups and it's a world of downs why? he'd sit there and eat crackers out of a box and apples out of a barrel and pitch his cores into the street and now he's a lord a living in a castle them's a lord's kicks there'll be an Earl's kick someday sometimes I says to myself says I I'll be jiggered he seemed to derive a great deal of comfort from his reflections and Dick's visit before Dick went home they had a supper in the small back room they had crackers and cheese and sardines and other canned things out of the store and Mr. Hobbes solemnly opened two bottles of ginger ale and pouring out two glasses proposed a toast here's to him he said lifting his glass and may he teach him a lesson Earl's and Marcus's and Duke's and all after that night the two saw each other often and Mr. Hobbes was much more comfortable and less desolate they read the penny story Gazette and many other interesting things and gained a knowledge of the habits of the nobility and gentry which would have surprised those despised classes if they had realized it one day Mr. Hobbes made a pilgrimage to a bookstore downtown for the express purpose of adding to their library he went to the clerk and leaned over the counter to speak to him I want he said a book about Earl's what? exclaimed the clerk a book repeated the grocery man about Earl's I'm afraid said the clerk looking rather queer that we haven't what you want haven't said Mr. Hobbes anxiously well say Marcus's then Duke's I know of no such book answered the clerk Mr. Hobbes was much disturbed he looked down on the floor then he looked up none about female Earl's he inquired I'm afraid not said the clerk with a smile well exclaimed Mr. Hobbes I'll be jiggered he was just going out of the store when the clerk called him back and asked him if a story in which the nobility where chief characters would do Mr. Hobbes said it would if he could not get an entire volume devoted to Earl's so the clerk sold him a book called The Tower of London written by Mr. Harris and Ainsworth and he carried it home when Dick came they began to read it it was a very wonderful and exciting book and the scene was laid in the reign of the famous English queen who is called by some people Bloody Mary and as Mr. Hobbes heard of Queen Mary's deeds and the habit she had of chopping people's heads off putting them to the torture and burning them alive he became very much excited he took his pipe out of his mouth and stared at Dick and at last he was obliged to mop the perspiration from his brow with his red pocket handkerchief Why? He ain't safe he said he ain't safe and folks can sit up on their thrones and give the word for things like that to be done who's to know what's happening to him this very minute he's no more safe than nothing just let a woman like that get mad and no one's safe well said Dick though he looked rather anxious himself you see this here and isn't the one that's bossing things now I know her name's Victory and this in here in the book her name's Mary so it is, said Mr. Hobbs still mopping his forehead so it is and the newspapers are not saying anything about any racks, thumb screws, or steak burnings but still it doesn't seem as if it was safe for him over there with those queer folks why? they tell me they don't keep the 4th of July he was privately uneasy for several days and it was not until he received Fauntleroy's letter and had read it several times by himself and to Dick and had also read the letter Dick got about the same time that he became composed again but they both found great pleasure in their letters they read and re-read them and talked them over and enjoyed every word of them and they spent days over the answers they sent and read them over almost as often as the letters they had received it was rather a labor for Dick to write his all his knowledge of reading and writing he had gained during a few months when he had lived with his elder brother and had gone to a night school but being a sharp boy he had made the most of that brief education and had spelled out things in newspaper since then and practiced writing with bits of chalk on pavements or walls or fences he told Mr. Hobbes all about his life and about his elder brother who had been rather good to him after their mother died when Dick was quite a little fellow their father had died some time before the brother's name was Ben and he had taken care of Dick as well as he could until the boy was old enough to sell newspapers and run errands they had lived together and as he grew older Ben had managed to get along until he had quite a decent place in a store and then exclaimed Dick with disgust blessed if he didn't go and marry a gal just went and got spoony and hadn't any more sense left married her and set up housekeeping in two back rooms and a hefty end she was a regular tiger cat she'd tear things to pieces when she got mad and she was mad all the time had a baby just like her yelled day and night and if I didn't have to tend it and when it screamed she'd fire things at me she fired a plate at me one day and hit the baby cut its chin doctor said he'd carry the mark till he died nice mother she was but didn't we have a time Ben and myself and the young one she was mad at Ben because he didn't make money faster and at last he went out west with a man to set up a cattle ranch and hadn't been gone a week for one night I got home from selling my papers and the rooms was locked up and empty and the woman of the house she told me men had gone shown a clean pair of heels someone else said she'd gone across the water to be in us till a lady has had a little baby too never heard a word of her since another has been if I'd have been him I wouldn't have fretted a bit and I guess he didn't but he thought a heap of her at the start tell you he was spoons on her she was a daisy looking gal too when she was dressed up and not mad she'd big black eyes and black hair down to her knees she'd make it into a rope as big as her arm and twist it round and round her head and I tell you her eyes had snap folks used to say she was part Italian said her mother or father had come from there and it made her queer I tell you she was one of them she was he often told Mr. Hobb stories of her and of his brother Ben who since his going out west was written once or twice to Dick Ben's luck had not been good and he had wandered from place to place but at last he had settled on a ranch in California where he was at work at the time when Dick became acquainted with Mr. Hobbs that gal said Dick one day she took all the grit out of him I couldn't help feeling sorry for him sometimes they were sitting in the store doorway together and Mr. Hobbs was filling his pipe he ought to have married he said solemnly as he rose to get a match women I never could see any use in them myself as he took the match from its box he stopped and looked down on the counter why? he said if here isn't a letter I didn't see it before the postman must have laid it down when I wasn't noticing or the newspaper slipped over it he picked it up and looked at it carefully it's from him he exclaimed that's the very one it's from he forgot his pipe altogether he went back to his chair quite excited and took his pocket knife and opened the envelope I wonder what news there is this time he said and then he unfolded the letter and read his follows Dorncourt Castle my dear Mr. Hobbs I write this in a great hurry because I have something curious to tell you I know you will be very much surprised my dear friend when I tell you it's all a mistake and I am not a lord and I shall not have to be an Earl there is a lady which was married to my Uncle Bevis who is dead and she has a little boy and he is Lord Fauntleroy because that is the way it is in England the Earl's eldest son's little boy is the Earl if everybody else is dead I mean if his father and grandfather are dead my grandfather is not dead but my Uncle Bevis is and so his boy is Lord Fauntleroy and I am not because my papa was the youngest son and my name is Cedric Earl like it was when I was in New York and all the things will belong to the other boy I thought at first I should have to give him my pony and cart but my grandfather says I need not I am very sorry and I think he does not like the lady but perhaps he thinks dearest and I are sorry because I shall not be an Earl I would like to be an Earl now better than I thought I would at first because this is a beautiful castle and I like everybody so and when you are rich you can do so many things I am not rich now because when your papa is only the youngest son he is not very rich I am going to learn to work so that I can take care of dearest I have been asking Wilkins about grooming horses perhaps I might be a groom or a coachman the lady brought her little boy to the castle and my grandfather and Mr. Havisham talked to her I think she was angry she talked loud and my grandfather was angry too I never saw him angry before I wish it did not make them all mad I should tell you and Dick right away because you would be interested so no more at present with love from your old friend Cedric Errol not Lord Fauntleroy Mr. Hobbs fell back in his chair the letter dropped on his knee and his penknife slipped to the floor and so did the envelope well he ejaculated I am jiggered he was so dumbfounded he changed his exclamation it had always been his habit to say I will be jiggered but this time he said I am jiggered perhaps he really was jiggered there is no knowing well said Dick the whole things bust up hasn't it bust said Mr. Hobbs it's my opinion it's a put up job with the British riskier crats to rob him of his rights he had a spite again us ever since the revolution and they're taking it out on him I told you he wasn't safe and see what's happened like is not the whole governments got together to rob him of his lawful onens he was very much agitated he had not approved of the change in his young friend's circumstances at first but lately he had become more reconciled to it and after the recede of Cedric's letter he had perhaps even felt some secret pride in his young friend's magnificence he might not have a good opinion of Earl's but he knew that even in America money was considered rather an agreeable thing and if all the wealth and grandeur were to go with the title it must be rather hard to lose it they're trying to rob him he said that's what they're doing and folks that have money ought to look after him and he kept Dick with him until quite a late hour to talk it over and when that young man left he went with him to the corner of the street and on his way back he stopped opposite the empty house for some time staring at the tulet sign and smoking his pipe in much disturbance of mind End of Chapter 11 Chapter 12 of Little Lord Fauntleroy This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Susan Umbleby Little Lord Fauntleroy by Francis Hodgson Burnett Chapter 12 A very few days after the dinner party at the castle almost everybody in England who read the newspapers at all knew the romantic story of what had happened at Dorincourt it made a very interesting story when it was told with all the details There was the little American boy who had been brought to England to be Lord Fauntleroy and who was said to be so fine and handsome a little fellow and who have already made people fond of him There was the old Earl, his grandfather who was so proud of his heir There was the pretty young mother who had never been forgiven for marrying Captain Errol and there was the strange marriage of Bevis the dead Lord Fauntleroy and the strange wife of whom no one knew anything suddenly appearing with her son and saying that he was the real Lord Fauntleroy and must have his rights All these things were talked about and written about and caused a tremendous sensation and then there came the rumor that the Earl of Dorincourt was not satisfied with the turn affairs had taken and would perhaps contest the claim by law and the matter might end with a wonderful trial There never had been such excitement before in the county in which Earl Borough was situated On market days people stood in groups and talked and wondered what would be done The farmer's wives invited one another to tea that they might tell one another all they had heard and all they thought and all they thought other people thought They related wonderful anecdotes about the Earl's rage and his determination not to acknowledge the new Lord Fauntleroy and his hatred of the woman who was the claimant's mother But of course it was Mrs. Dibble who could tell the most and who was more in demand than ever And a bad look out it is she said And if you were to ask me ma'am I should say that it was a judgment on him for the way he's treated that sweet young creature as he parted from her child for he's got that fond of him and that said on him and that proud of him as he's almost drove mad by what's happened and what's more this new one's no lady as his little lordship's ma'a is she's a bold-faced black-eyed thing as Mr. Thomas says no gentleman in livery had be mean himself to be gave orders by and let her come into the house he says and he goes out of it and the boy don't know more compare with the other one than nothing you could mention and mercy knows what's going to come of it all and where it's to end and you might've knocked me down with a feather when Jane brought the news in fact there was excitement everywhere at the castle in the library where the Earl and Mr. Havisham sat and talked in the servants hall where Mr. Thomas and the butler and the other men and women servants gossiped and exclaimed at all times of the day and in the stables Wilkins went about his work in a quite depressed state of mind and groomed the brown pony more beautifully than ever and said mournfully to the coachman that he never taught a young gentleman to ride as took to it more natural or was a better plucked one than he was he was a one as it were some pleasure to ride behind but in the midst of all the disturbance there was one person who was quite calm and untroubled that person was the little lord Fauntleroy not to be lord Fauntleroy at all when first the state of affairs had been explained to him he had felt some little anxiousness and perplexity it is true but its foundation was not in baffled ambition while the Earl told him what had happened he had sat on a stool holding on to his knee as he so often did when he was listening to anything interesting and by the time the story was finished he looked quite sober it makes me feel he feel very queer he said it makes me feel queer the Earl looked at the boy in silence and made him feel queer too queerer than he had ever felt in his whole life and he felt more queer still when he saw that there was a troubled expression on the small face which was usually so happy will they take Dearest's house from her and her carriage Cedric asked her unsteady anxious little voice no said the Earl decidedly in quite a loud voice in fact they can take nothing from her oh said Cedric with evident relief can't they then he looked up at his grandfather and there was a wistful shade in his eyes and they looked very big and soft that other boy he said rather trimulously you'll have to be your boy now as I was won't he no answered the Earl and he said it so fiercely and loudly that Cedric quite jumped no he exclaimed in wonderment won't he I thought he stood up from his stool quite suddenly shall I be your boy even if I'm not going to be an Earl he said before and his flush little face was all a light with eagerness how the old Earl did look at him from head to foot to be sure how his great shaggy brows did draw themselves together and how queerly his deep eyes shone under them how very queerly my boy he said and if you'll believe it his very voice was queer almost shaky and a little broken not at all what you would expect an Earl's voice to be though he spoke more decidedly and preemptively even than before yes you'll be my boy as long as I live and by George sometimes I feel as if you were the only boy I had ever had Cedric's face turned red to the roots of his hair it turned red with relief and pleasure he put both his hands deep into his pockets and looked squarely into his noble relative's eyes do you he said well then I don't care about the Earl part at all I don't care whether I'm an Earl or not I thought you see I thought the one that was going to be the Earl would have to be your boy too and I couldn't be that was what made me feel so queer the Earl put his hand on his shoulder and drew him nearer they shall take nothing from you that I can hold for you he said drawing his breath hard I won't believe yet that they can take anything from you you were made for the place and well you may fill it still but whatever comes you shall have all that I can give you all it scarcely seemed as if he were speaking to a child there was such determination in his face and voice it was more as if he were promised to himself and perhaps he was he had never before known how deep a hold upon him his fondness for the boy and his pride in him had taken he had never seen his strength and good qualities and beauty as he seemed to see them now to his obstinate nature it seemed impossible more than impossible to give up what he had so set his heart upon and he had determined that he would not give it up without fear struggle within a few days after she had seen Mr. Havisham the woman who claimed to be Lady Fauntleroy presented herself at the castle and brought her child with her she was sent away the Earl would not see her she was told by the footmen at the door his lawyer would attend to her case it was Thomas who gave the message and who expressed his opinion of her freely afterward in the servants hall he said as he had wore livery and high families long enough to know a lady when he see one and if that was a lady he was no judge of females the one at the lodge added Thomas Laughley American or no American she is one of the right sort as any gentleman would recognize with all a eye I remarked it myself to Henry when first we called there the woman drove away the look on her handsome common face half frightened half fierce Mr. Havisham had noticed during his interviews with her that though she had a passionate temper and a coarse insolent manner she was neither so clever nor so bold as she meant to be she seemed sometimes to be almost overwhelmed by the position in which she had placed herself it was as if she had not expected to meet with such opposition she is evidently the lawyer said to Mrs. Errol a person from the lower walks of life she is uneducated and untrained in everything and quite unused to meeting people like ourselves on any terms of equality she does not know what to do her visit to the castle quite cowed her she was infuriated but she was cowed the Earl would not receive her but I advised him to go with me to the door and court arms where she is staying when she saw him enter the room she turned white though she flew into a rage at once and threatened and demanded in one breath the fact was that the Earl had stalked into the room and stood looking like a venerable aristocratic giant staring at the woman from under his beaming brows and not condescending a word he simply stared at her taking her in from head to foot as if she were some repulsive curiosity he let her talk to her in command until she was tired without himself uttering a word and then he said you say you are my eldest son's wife if that is true and if the proof you offer is too much for us the law is on your side in that case your boy is Lord Fauntleroy the matter will be sifted to the bottom you may rest assured if your claims are proved you will be provided for I want to see nothing of either you or else I live the place will unfortunately have enough of you after my death you are exactly the kind of person I should have expected my son Bevis to choose and then he turned his back upon her and stalked out of the room as he had stalked into it not many days after that a visitor was announced to Mrs. Errol who was writing in her little morning room the maid who brought the message looked rather excited with amazement in fact and being young and inexperienced she regarded her mistress with nervous sympathy it's the Earl himself ma'am she said in tremulous awe when Mrs. Errol entered the drawing room a very tall majestic looking old man was standing on the tiger skin rug he had a handsome grim old face with an aquiline profile a long white moustache and an obstinate look Mrs. Errol I believe he said Mrs. Errol she answered I am the Earl of Dorencourt he said he paused a moment almost unconsciously to look into her uplifted eyes they were so like the big affectionate childish eyes he had seen uplifted to his own so often every day during the last few months that they gave him quite a curious sensation the boy is very like you he said abruptly it has been often said so my lord she replied but I have been glad to think him like his father also as Lady Loredale had told him her voice was very sweet and her manner was very simple and dignified she did not seem in the least troubled by his sudden coming yes said the Earl he is like my son too he put his hand up to his big white moustache and pulled it fiercely do you know he said why I have come here I have seen Mr. Habisham Mr. Zerl began and he has told me of the claims which have been made I have come to tell you that they will be investigated and contested if a contest can be made I have come to tell you that the boy shall be defended with all the power of the law it's the soft voice interrupted him he must have nothing that is not his by right even if the law can give it to him she said unfortunately the law cannot said the Earl if it could it should this outrageous woman and her child perhaps she cares for him as much as I care for Cedric my lord said little Mrs. Errol and if she was your eldest son's wife her son is Lord Fauntleroy and mine is not she was no more afraid of him than Cedric had been and she looked at him just as Cedric would have looked and he having been an old tyrant all his life was privately pleased by it people so seldom dared to defer from him that there was an entertaining novelty in it I suppose he said, scowling slightly that you would much prefer that he should not be the Earl of Doron court her very young face flushed it is a very magnificent thing to be the Earl of Doron court my lord she said I know that but I care most that he should be what his father was brave and just and true always and striking contrast to what his grandfather was said his lordship sardonically I have not had the pleasure of knowing his grandfather replied Mrs. Errol but I know my little boy believes she stopped short a moment looking quietly into his face and then she added I know that Cedric loves you would he have loved me said the Earl dryly if you had told him why I did not receive you at the castle no answered Mrs. Errol I think not that was why I did not wish him to know well said my lord Bruce Glee there are few women who would not have told him he suddenly began to walk up and down the room pulling his great moustache more violently than ever yes he is fond of me he said and I am fond of him I can't say I ever was fond of anything before I am fond of him he pleased me from the first I am an old man and was tired of my life he has given me something to live for I am proud of him I was satisfied to think of his taking his place someday as the head of the family he came back and stood before Mrs. Errol I am miserable he said miserable he looked as if he was even his pride could not keep his voice steady or his hands from shaking for a moment it almost seemed as if his deep fierce eyes had tears in them perhaps it is because I am miserable that I have come to you he said quite glaring down at her I used to hate you I have been jealous of you this wretched disgraceful business has changed that after seeing that repulsive woman who calls herself the wife of my son Bevis I actually felt it would be a relief to look at you in obstinate old fool and I suppose I have treated you badly you are like the boy and the boy is the first object in my life I am miserable and I came to you merely because you are like the boy and he cares for you and I care for him treat me as well as you can for the boy's sake he said it all in his harsh voice almost roughly now he seems so broken down for the time that Mrs. Errol was touched to the heart she got up and moved an armchair a little forward I wish you would sit down she said in a soft pretty sympathetic way you have been so much troubled that you were very tired and you need all your strength it was just as new to him to be spoken to and cared for in that gentle simple way as it was to be contradicted he was reminded of the boy again and he actually did as she asked him perhaps his disappointment and wretchedness were good discipline for him if he had not been wretched he might have continued to hate her but just at present he found her a little soothing almost anything would have seemed pleasant by contrast with Lady Fauntleroy and this one had so sweet a face and voice and a pretty dignity when she spoke very soon through the quiet magic of these influences he began to feel less gloomy and then he talked still more whatever happens he said the boy should be provided for he should be taken care of now and in the future before he went away he glanced around the room do you like the house he demanded very much she answered this is a cheerful room she said may I come here again and talk this matter over as often as you wish my lord she replied and then he went out to his carriage and drove away Thomas and Henry almost stricken dumb upon the box at the turn affairs had taken End of Chapter 12