V
It was late in the afternoon when the carriage containing little LordFauntleroy and Mr. Havisham drove up the long avenue which led to thecastle. The Earl had given orders that his grandson should arrive intime to dine with him; and for some reason best known to himself, he hadalso ordered that the child should be sent alone into the room in whichhe intended to receive him. As the carriage rolled up the avenue, LordFauntleroy sat leaning comfortably against the luxurious cushions, andregarded the prospect with great interest. He was, in fact, interestedin everything he saw. He had been interested in the carriage, withits large, splendid horses and their glittering harness; he had beeninterested in the tall coachman and footman, with their resplendentlivery; and he had been especially interested in the coronet on thepanels, and had struck up an acquaintance with the footman for thepurpose of inquiring what it meant.
When the carriage reached the great gates of the park, he looked out ofthe window to get a good view of the huge stone lions ornamenting theentrance. The gates were opened by a motherly, rosy-looking woman, whocame out of a pretty, ivy-covered lodge. Two children ran out of thedoor of the house and stood looking with round, wide-open eyes at thelittle boy in the carriage, who looked at them also. Their mother stoodcourtesying and smiling, and the children, on receiving a sign from her,made bobbing little courtesies too.
"Does she know me?" asked Lord Fauntleroy. "I think she must think sheknows me." And he took off his black velvet cap to her and smiled.
"How do you do?" he said brightly. "Good-afternoon!"
The woman seemed pleased, he thought. The smile broadened on her rosyface and a kind look came into her blue eyes.
"God bless your lordship!" she said. "God bless your pretty face! Goodluck and happiness to your lordship! Welcome to you!"
Lord Fauntleroy waved his cap and nodded to her again as the carriagerolled by her.
"I like that woman," he said. "She looks as if she liked boys. I shouldlike to come here and play with her children. I wonder if she has enoughto make up a company?"
Mr. Havisham did not tell him that he would scarcely be allowed to makeplaymates of the gate-keeper's children. The lawyer thought there wastime enough for giving him that information.
The carriage rolled on and on between the great, beautiful trees whichgrew on each side of the avenue and stretched their broad, swayingbranches in an arch across it. Cedric had never seen such trees,--theywere so grand and stately, and their branches grew so low down on theirhuge trunks. He did not then know that Dorincourt Castle was one of themost beautiful in all England; that its park was one of the broadest andfinest, and its trees and avenue almost without rivals. But he did knowthat it was all very beautiful. He liked the big, broad-branched trees,with the late afternoon sunlight striking golden lances through them. Heliked the perfect stillness which rested on everything. He felt a great,strange pleasure in the beauty of which he caught glimpses under andbetween the sweeping boughs--the great, beautiful spaces of the park,with still other trees standing sometimes stately and alone, andsometimes in groups. Now and then they passed places where tall fernsgrew in masses, and again and again the ground was azure with thebluebells swaying in the soft breeze. Several times he started up witha laugh of delight as a rabbit leaped up from under the greenery andscudded away with a twinkle of short white tail behind it. Once a coveyof partridges rose with a sudden whir and flew away, and then he shoutedand clapped his hands.
"It's a beautiful place, isn't it?" he said to Mr. Havisham. "I neversaw such a beautiful place. It's prettier even than Central Park."
He was rather puzzled by the length of time they were on their way.
"How far is it," he said, at length, "from the gate to the front door?"
"It is between three and four miles," answered the lawyer.
"That's a long way for a person to live from his gate," remarked hislordship.
Every few minutes he saw something new to wonder at and admire. When hecaught sight of the deer, some couched in the grass, some standing withtheir pretty antlered heads turned with a half-startled air toward theavenue as the carriage wheels disturbed them, he was enchanted.
"Has there been a circus?" he cried; "or do they live here always? Whoseare they?"
"They live here," Mr. Havisham told him. "They belong to the Earl, yourgrandfather."
It was not long after this that they saw the castle. It rose up beforethem stately and beautiful and gray, the last rays of the sun castingdazzling lights on its many windows. It had turrets and battlements andtowers; a great deal of ivy grew upon its walls; all the broad, openspace about it was laid out in terraces and lawns and beds of brilliantflowers.
"It's the most beautiful place I ever saw!" said Cedric, his round faceflushing with pleasure. "It reminds any one of a king's palace. I saw apicture of one once in a fairy-book."
He saw the great entrance-door thrown open and many servants standing intwo lines looking at him. He wondered why they were standing there, andadmired their liveries very much. He did not know that they were thereto do honor to the little boy to whom all this splendor would oneday belong,--the beautiful castle like the fairy king's palace, themagnificent park, the grand old trees, the dells full of ferns andbluebells where the hares and rabbits played, the dappled, large-eyeddeer couching in the deep grass. It was only a couple of weeks since hehad sat with Mr. Hobbs among the potatoes and canned peaches, with hislegs dangling from the high stool; it would not have been possible forhim to realize that he had very much to do with all this grandeur. Atthe head of the line of servants there stood an elderly woman in a rich,plain black silk gown; she had gray hair and wore a cap. As he enteredthe hall she stood nearer than the rest, and the child thought from thelook in her eyes that she was going to speak to him. Mr. Havisham, whoheld his hand, paused a moment.
"This is Lord Fauntleroy, Mrs. Mellon," he said. "Lord Fauntleroy, thisis Mrs. Mellon, who is the housekeeper."
Cedric gave her his hand, his eyes lighting up.
"Was it you who sent the cat?" he said. "I'm much obliged to you,ma'am."
Mrs. Mellon's handsome old face looked as pleased as the face of thelodge-keeper's wife had done.
"I should know his lordship anywhere," she said to Mr. Havisham. "He hasthe Captain's face and way. It's a great day, this, sir."
Cedric wondered why it was a great day. He looked at Mrs. Melloncuriously. It seemed to him for a moment as if there were tears in hereyes, and yet it was evident she was not unhappy. She smiled down onhim.
"The cat left two beautiful kittens here," she said; "they shall be sentup to your lordship's nursery."
Mr. Havisham said a few words to her in a low voice.
"In the library, sir," Mrs. Mellon replied. "His lordship is to be takenthere alone."
A few minutes later, the very tall footman in livery, who had escortedCedric to the library door, opened it and announced: "Lord Fauntleroy,my lord," in quite a majestic tone. If he was only a footman, he felt itwas rather a grand occasion when the heir came home to his own land andpossessions, and was ushered into the presence of the old Earl, whoseplace and title he was to take.
Cedric crossed the threshold into the room. It was a very large andsplendid room, with massive carven furniture in it, and shelves uponshelves of books; the furniture was so dark, and the draperies so heavy,the diamond-paned windows were so deep, and it seemed such a distancefrom one end of it to the other, that, since the sun had gone down, theeffect of it all was rather gloomy. For a moment Cedric thought therewas nobody in the room, but soon he saw that by the fire burning on thewide hearth there was a large easy-chair and that in that chair some onewas sitting--some one who did not at first turn to look at him.
But he had attracted attention in one quarter at least. On the floor,by the arm-chair, lay a dog, a huge tawny mastiff, with body and limbsalmost as big as a lion's; and this great creature rose majestically andslowly, and marched toward the little fellow with a heavy step.
Then
the person in the chair spoke. "Dougal," he called, "come back,sir."
But there was no more fear in little Lord Fauntleroy's heart than therewas unkindness--he had been a brave little fellow all his life. He puthis hand on the big dog's collar in the most natural way in the world,and they strayed forward together, Dougal sniffing as he went.
And then the Earl looked up. What Cedric saw was a large old man withshaggy white hair and eyebrows, and a nose like an eagle's beak betweenhis deep, fierce eyes. What the Earl saw was a graceful, childish figurein a black velvet suit, with a lace collar, and with love-locks wavingabout the handsome, manly little face, whose eyes met his with a look ofinnocent good-fellowship. If the Castle was like the palace in a fairystory, it must be owned that little Lord Fauntleroy was himself ratherlike a small copy of the fairy prince, though he was not at all awareof the fact, and perhaps was rather a sturdy young model of a fairy.But there was a sudden glow of triumph and exultation in the fiery oldEarl's heart as he saw what a strong, beautiful boy this grandson was,and how unhesitatingly he looked up as he stood with his hand on the bigdog's neck. It pleased the grim old nobleman that the child should showno shyness or fear, either of the dog or of himself.
Cedric looked at him just as he had looked at the woman at the lodge andat the housekeeper, and came quite close to him.
"Are you the Earl?" he said. "I'm your grandson, you know, that Mr.Havisham brought. I'm Lord Fauntleroy."
He held out his hand because he thought it must be the polite and properthing to do even with earls. "I hope you are very well," he continued,with the utmost friendliness. "I'm very glad to see you."
The Earl shook hands with him, with a curious gleam in his eyes; just atfirst, he was so astonished that he scarcely knew what to say. He staredat the picturesque little apparition from under his shaggy brows, andtook it all in from head to foot.
"Glad to see me, are you?" he said.
"Yes," answered Lord Fauntleroy, "very."
There was a chair near him, and he sat down on it; it was a high-backed,rather tall chair, and his feet did not touch the floor when he hadsettled himself in it, but he seemed to be quite comfortable as he satthere, and regarded his august relative intently but modestly.
"I've kept wondering what you would look like," he remarked. "I used tolie in my berth in the ship and wonder if you would be anything like myfather."
"Am I?" asked the Earl.
"Well," Cedric replied, "I was very young when he died, and I may notremember exactly how he looked, but I don't think you are like him."
"You are disappointed, I suppose?" suggested his grandfather.
"Oh, no," responded Cedric politely. "Of course you would like any oneto look like your father; but of course you would enjoy the way yourgrandfather looked, even if he wasn't like your father. You know how itis yourself about admiring your relations."
The Earl leaned back in his chair and stared. He could not be said toknow how it was about admiring his relations. He had employed most ofhis noble leisure in quarreling violently with them, in turning them outof his house, and applying abusive epithets to them; and they all hatedhim cordially.
"Any boy would love his grandfather," continued Lord Fauntleroy,"especially one that had been as kind to him as you have been."
Another queer gleam came into the old nobleman's eyes.
"Oh!" he said, "I have been kind to you, have I?"
"Yes," answered Lord Fauntleroy brightly; "I'm ever so much obliged toyou about Bridget, and the apple-woman, and Dick."
"Bridget!" exclaimed the Earl. "Dick! The apple-woman!"
"Yes!" explained Cedric; "the ones you gave me all that money for--themoney you told Mr. Havisham to give me if I wanted it."
"Ha!" ejaculated his lordship. "That's it, is it? The money you wereto spend as you liked. What did you buy with it? I should like to hearsomething about that."
He drew his shaggy eyebrows together and looked at the child sharply. Hewas secretly curious to know in what way the lad had indulged himself.
"Oh!" said Lord Fauntleroy, "perhaps you didn't know about Dick and theapple-woman and Bridget. I forgot you lived such a long way off fromthem. They were particular friends of mine. And you see Michael had thefever----"
"Who's Michael?" asked the Earl.
"Michael is Bridget's husband, and they were in great trouble. When aman is sick and can't work and has twelve children, you know how it is.And Michael has always been a sober man. And Bridget used to come to ourhouse and cry. And the evening Mr. Havisham was there, she was in thekitchen crying, because they had almost nothing to eat and couldn't paythe rent; and I went in to see her, and Mr. Havisham sent for me and hesaid you had given him some money for me. And I ran as fast as I couldinto the kitchen and gave it to Bridget; and that made it all right; andBridget could scarcely believe her eyes. That's why I'm so obliged toyou."
"Oh!" said the Earl in his deep voice, "that was one of the things youdid for yourself, was it? What else?"
Dougal had been sitting by the tall chair; the great dog had taken itsplace there when Cedric sat down. Several times it had turned and lookedup at the boy as if interested in the conversation. Dougal was asolemn dog, who seemed to feel altogether too big to take life'sresponsibilities lightly. The old Earl, who knew the dog well, hadwatched it with secret interest. Dougal was not a dog whose habit it wasto make acquaintances rashly, and the Earl wondered somewhat to see howquietly the brute sat under the touch of the childish hand. And, justat this moment, the big dog gave little Lord Fauntleroy one more lookof dignified scrutiny, and deliberately laid its huge, lion-like head onthe boy's black-velvet knee.
The small hand went on stroking this new friend as Cedric answered:
"Well, there was Dick," he said. "You'd like Dick, he's so square."
This was an Americanism the Earl was not prepared for.
"What does that mean?" he inquired.
Lord Fauntleroy paused a moment to reflect. He was not very sure himselfwhat it meant. He had taken it for granted as meaning something verycreditable because Dick had been fond of using it.
"I think it means that he wouldn't cheat any one," he exclaimed; "orhit a boy who was under his size, and that he blacks people's bootsvery well and makes them shine as much as he can. He's a perfessionalbootblack."
"And he's one of your acquaintances, is he?" said the Earl.
"He is an old friend of mine," replied his grandson. "Not quite as oldas Mr. Hobbs, but quite old. He gave me a present just before the shipsailed."
He put his hand into his pocket and drew forth a neatly folded redobject and opened it with an air of affectionate pride. It was the redsilk handkerchief with the large purple horse-shoes and heads on it.
"He gave me this," said his young lordship. "I shall keep it always. Youcan wear it round your neck or keep it in your pocket. He bought it withthe first money he earned after I bought Jake out and gave him the newbrushes. It's a keepsake. I put some poetry in Mr. Hobbs's watch. Itwas, 'When this you see, remember me.' When this I see, I shall alwaysremember Dick."
The sensations of the Right Honorable the Earl of Dorincourt couldscarcely be described. He was not an old nobleman who was very easilybewildered, because he had seen a great deal of the world; but here wassomething he found so novel that it almost took his lordly breath away,and caused him some singular emotions. He had never cared for children;he had been so occupied with his own pleasures that he had never hadtime to care for them. His own sons had not interested him when theywere very young--though sometimes he remembered having thought Cedric'sfather a handsome and strong little fellow. He had been so selfishhimself that he had missed the pleasure of seeing unselfishness inothers, and he had not known how tender and faithful and affectionate akind-hearted little child can be, and how innocent and unconscious areits simple, generous impulses. A boy had always seemed to him a mostobjectionable little animal, selfish and greedy and boisterous when notunder strict restraint; his own two eldest sons had given
their tutorsconstant trouble and annoyance, and of the younger one he fancied he hadheard few complaints because the boy was of no particular importance. Ithad never once occurred to him that he should like his grandson; he hadsent for the little Cedric because his pride impelled him to do so. Ifthe boy was to take his place in the future, he did not wish his nameto be made ridiculous by descending to an uneducated boor. He had beenconvinced the boy would be a clownish fellow if he were brought up inAmerica. He had no feeling of affection for the lad; his only hope wasthat he should find him decently well-featured, and with a respectableshare of sense; he had been so disappointed in his other sons, and hadbeen made so furious by Captain Errol's American marriage, that he hadnever once thought that anything creditable could come of it. When thefootman had announced Lord Fauntleroy, he had almost dreaded to look atthe boy lest he should find him all that he had feared. It was becauseof this feeling that he had ordered that the child should be sent tohim alone. His pride could not endure that others should see hisdisappointment if he was to be disappointed. His proud, stubborn oldheart therefore had leaped within him when the boy came forward with hisgraceful, easy carriage, his fearless hand on the big dog's neck. Evenin the moments when he had hoped the most, the Earl had never hoped thathis grandson would look like that. It seemed almost too good to be truethat this should be the boy he had dreaded to see--the child of thewoman he so disliked--this little fellow with so much beauty and sucha brave, childish grace! The Earl's stern composure was quite shaken bythis startling surprise.
And then their talk began; and he was still more curiously moved, andmore and more puzzled. In the first place, he was so used to seeingpeople rather afraid and embarrassed before him, that he had expectednothing else but that his grandson would be timid or shy. But Cedric wasno more afraid of the Earl than he had been of Dougal. He was not bold;he was only innocently friendly, and he was not conscious that therecould be any reason why he should be awkward or afraid. The Earl couldnot help seeing that the little boy took him for a friend and treatedhim as one, without having any doubt of him at all. It was quite plainas the little fellow sat there in his tall chair and talked in hisfriendly way that it had never occurred to him that this large,fierce-looking old man could be anything but kind to him, and ratherpleased to see him there. And it was plain, too, that, in his childishway, he wished to please and interest his grandfather. Cross, andhard-hearted, and worldly as the old Earl was, he could not help feelinga secret and novel pleasure in this very confidence. After all, it wasnot disagreeable to meet some one who did not distrust him or shrinkfrom him, or seem to detect the ugly part of his nature; some one wholooked at him with clear, unsuspecting eyes,--if it was only a littleboy in a black velvet suit.
So the old man leaned back in his chair, and led his young companionon to telling him still more of himself, and with that odd gleam in hiseyes watched the little fellow as he talked. Lord Fauntleroy was quitewilling to answer all his questions and chatted on in his genial littleway quite composedly. He told him all about Dick and Jake, and theapple-woman, and Mr. Hobbs; he described the Republican Rally in allthe glory of its banners and transparencies, torches and rockets. Inthe course of the conversation, he reached the Fourth of July andthe Revolution, and was just becoming enthusiastic, when he suddenlyrecollected something and stopped very abruptly.
"What is the matter?" demanded his grandfather. "Why don't you go on?"
Lord Fauntleroy moved rather uneasily in his chair. It was evident tothe Earl that he was embarrassed by the thought which had just occurredto him.
"I was just thinking that perhaps you mightn't like it," he replied."Perhaps some one belonging to you might have been there. I forgot youwere an Englishman."
"You can go on," said my lord. "No one belonging to me was there. Youforgot you were an Englishman, too."
"Oh! no," said Cedric quickly. "I'm an American!"
"You are an Englishman," said the Earl grimly. "Your father was anEnglishman."
It amused him a little to say this, but it did not amuse Cedric. The ladhad never thought of such a development as this. He felt himself growquite hot up to the roots of his hair.
"I was born in America," he protested. "You have to be an American ifyou are born in America. I beg your pardon," with serious politenessand delicacy, "for contradicting you. Mr. Hobbs told me, if there wereanother war, you know, I should have to--to be an American."
The Earl gave a grim half laugh--it was short and grim, but it was alaugh.
"You would, would you?" he said.
He hated America and Americans, but it amused him to see how serious andinterested this small patriot was. He thought that so good an Americanmight make a rather good Englishman when he was a man.
They had not time to go very deep into the Revolution again--andindeed Lord Fauntleroy felt some delicacy about returning to thesubject--before dinner was announced.
Cedric left his chair and went to his noble kinsman. He looked down athis gouty foot.
"Would you like me to help you?" he said politely. "You could lean onme, you know. Once when Mr. Hobbs hurt his foot with a potato-barrelrolling on it, he used to lean on me."
The big footman almost periled his reputation and his situation bysmiling. He was an aristocratic footman who had always lived in the bestof noble families, and he had never smiled; indeed, he would have felthimself a disgraced and vulgar footman if he had allowed himself to beled by any circumstance whatever into such an indiscretion as a smile.But he had a very narrow escape. He only just saved himself by staringstraight over the Earl's head at a very ugly picture.
The Earl looked his valiant young relative over from head to foot.
"Do you think you could do it?" he asked gruffly.
"I THINK I could," said Cedric. "I'm strong. I'm seven, you know. Youcould lean on your stick on one side, and on me on the other. Dick saysI've a good deal of muscle for a boy that's only seven."
He shut his hand and moved it upward to his shoulder, so that the Earlmight see the muscle Dick had kindly approved of, and his face was sograve and earnest that the footman found it necessary to look very hardindeed at the ugly picture.
"Well," said the Earl, "you may try."
Cedric gave him his stick and began to assist him to rise. Usually, thefootman did this, and was violently sworn at when his lordship had anextra twinge of gout. The Earl was not a very polite person as a rule,and many a time the huge footmen about him quaked inside their imposingliveries.
But this evening he did not swear, though his gouty foot gave him moretwinges than one. He chose to try an experiment. He got up slowlyand put his hand on the small shoulder presented to him with so muchcourage. Little Lord Fauntleroy made a careful step forward, lookingdown at the gouty foot.
"Just lean on me," he said, with encouraging good cheer. "I'll walk veryslowly."
If the Earl had been supported by the footman he would have rested lesson his stick and more on his assistant's arm. And yet it was part of hisexperiment to let his grandson feel his burden as no light weight.It was quite a heavy weight indeed, and after a few steps his younglordship's face grew quite hot, and his heart beat rather fast, but hebraced himself sturdily, remembering his muscle and Dick's approval ofit.
"Don't be afraid of leaning on me," he panted. "I'm all right--if--if itisn't a very long way."
It was not really very far to the dining-room, but it seemed rather along way to Cedric, before they reached the chair at the head of thetable. The hand on his shoulder seemed to grow heavier at every step,and his face grew redder and hotter, and his breath shorter, but henever thought of giving up; he stiffened his childish muscles, held hishead erect, and encouraged the Earl as he limped along.
"Does your foot hurt you very much when you stand on it?" he asked. "Didyou ever put it in hot water and mustard? Mr. Hobbs used to put his inhot water. Arnica is a very nice thing, they tell me."
The big dog stalked slowly beside them, and the big footman followed;several times h
e looked very queer as he watched the little figuremaking the very most of all its strength, and bearing its burden withsuch good-will. The Earl, too, looked rather queer, once, as he glancedsidewise down at the flushed little face. When they entered the roomwhere they were to dine, Cedric saw it was a very large and imposingone, and that the footman who stood behind the chair at the head of thetable stared very hard as they came in.
But they reached the chair at last. The hand was removed from hisshoulder, and the Earl was fairly seated.
Cedric took out Dick's handkerchief and wiped his forehead.
"It's a warm night, isn't it?" he said. "Perhaps you need a firebecause--because of your foot, but it seems just a little warm to me."
His delicate consideration for his noble relative's feelings was suchthat he did not wish to seem to intimate that any of his surroundingswere unnecessary.
"You have been doing some rather hard work," said the Earl.
"Oh, no!" said Lord Fauntleroy, "it wasn't exactly hard, but I got alittle warm. A person will get warm in summer time."
And he rubbed his damp curls rather vigorously with the gorgeoushandkerchief. His own chair was placed at the other end of the table,opposite his grandfather's. It was a chair with arms, and intended fora much larger individual than himself; indeed, everything he had seen sofar,--the great rooms, with their high ceilings, the massive furniture,the big footman, the big dog, the Earl himself,--were all of proportionscalculated to make this little lad feel that he was very small, indeed.But that did not trouble him; he had never thought himself very largeor important, and he was quite willing to accommodate himself even tocircumstances which rather overpowered him.
Perhaps he had never looked so little a fellow as when seated now inhis great chair, at the end of the table. Notwithstanding his solitaryexistence, the Earl chose to live in some state. He was fond of hisdinner, and he dined in a formal style. Cedric looked at him acrossa glitter of splendid glass and plate, which to his unaccustomed eyesseemed quite dazzling. A stranger looking on might well have smiled atthe picture,--the great stately room, the big liveried servants, thebright lights, the glittering silver and glass, the fierce-looking oldnobleman at the head of the table and the very small boy at the foot.Dinner was usually a very serious matter with the Earl--and it was avery serious matter with the cook, if his lordship was not pleased orhad an indifferent appetite. To-day, however, his appetite seemed atrifle better than usual, perhaps because he had something to think ofbeside the flavor of the entrees and the management of the gravies. Hisgrandson gave him something to think of. He kept looking at him acrossthe table. He did not say very much himself, but he managed to make theboy talk. He had never imagined that he could be entertained by hearinga child talk, but Lord Fauntleroy at once puzzled and amused him, andhe kept remembering how he had let the childish shoulder feel his weightjust for the sake of trying how far the boy's courage and endurancewould go, and it pleased him to know that his grandson had not quailedand had not seemed to think even for a moment of giving up what he hadundertaken to do.
"You don't wear your coronet all the time?" remarked Lord Fauntleroyrespectfully.
"No," replied the Earl, with his grim smile; "it is not becoming to me."
"Mr. Hobbs said you always wore it," said Cedric; "but after he thoughtit over, he said he supposed you must sometimes take it off to put yourhat on."
"Yes," said the Earl, "I take it off occasionally."
And one of the footmen suddenly turned aside and gave a singular littlecough behind his hand.
Cedric finished his dinner first, and then he leaned back in his chairand took a survey of the room.
"You must be very proud of your house," he said, "it's such a beautifulhouse. I never saw anything so beautiful; but, of course, as I'm onlyseven, I haven't seen much."
"And you think I must be proud of it, do you?" said the Earl.
"I should think any one would be proud of it," replied Lord Fauntleroy."I should be proud of it if it were my house. Everything about it isbeautiful. And the park, and those trees,--how beautiful they are, andhow the leaves rustle!"
Then he paused an instant and looked across the table rather wistfully.
"It's a very big house for just two people to live in, isn't it?" hesaid.
"It is quite large enough for two," answered the Earl. "Do you find ittoo large?"
His little lordship hesitated a moment.
"I was only thinking," he said, "that if two people lived in it who werenot very good companions, they might feel lonely sometimes."
"Do you think I shall make a good companion?" inquired the Earl.
"Yes," replied Cedric, "I think you will. Mr. Hobbs and I were greatfriends. He was the best friend I had except Dearest."
The Earl made a quick movement of his bushy eyebrows.
"Who is Dearest?"
"She is my mother," said Lord Fauntleroy, in a rather low, quiet littlevoice.
Perhaps he was a trifle tired, as his bed-time was nearing, and perhapsafter the excitement of the last few days it was natural he should betired, so perhaps, too, the feeling of weariness brought to him a vaguesense of loneliness in the remembrance that to-night he was not to sleepat home, watched over by the loving eyes of that "best friend" of his.They had always been "best friends," this boy and his young mother. Hecould not help thinking of her, and the more he thought of her the lesswas he inclined to talk, and by the time the dinner was at an end theEarl saw that there was a faint shadow on his face. But Cedric borehimself with excellent courage, and when they went back to the library,though the tall footman walked on one side of his master, the Earl'shand rested on his grandson's shoulder, though not so heavily as before.
When the footman left them alone, Cedric sat down upon the hearth-rugnear Dougal. For a few minutes he stroked the dog's ears in silence andlooked at the fire.
The Earl watched him. The boy's eyes looked wistful and thoughtful, andonce or twice he gave a little sigh. The Earl sat still, and kept hiseyes fixed on his grandson.
"Fauntleroy," he said at last, "what are you thinking of?"
Fauntleroy looked up with a manful effort at a smile.
"I was thinking about Dearest," he said; "and--and I think I'd betterget up and walk up and down the room."
He rose up, and put his hands in his small pockets, and began to walk toand fro. His eyes were very bright, and his lips were pressed together,but he kept his head up and walked firmly. Dougal moved lazily andlooked at him, and then stood up. He walked over to the child, and beganto follow him uneasily. Fauntleroy drew one hand from his pocket andlaid it on the dog's head.
"He's a very nice dog," he said. "He's my friend. He knows how I feel."
"How do you feel?" asked the Earl.
It disturbed him to see the struggle the little fellow was having withhis first feeling of homesickness, but it pleased him to see that hewas making so brave an effort to bear it well. He liked this childishcourage.
"Come here," he said.
Fauntleroy went to him.
"I never was away from my own house before," said the boy, with atroubled look in his brown eyes. "It makes a person feel a strangefeeling when he has to stay all night in another person's castle insteadof in his own house. But Dearest is not very far away from me. She toldme to remember that--and--and I'm seven--and I can look at the pictureshe gave me."
He put his hand in his pocket, and brought out a small violetvelvet-covered case.
"This is it," he said. "You see, you press this spring and it opens, andshe is in there!"
He had come close to the Earl's chair, and, as he drew forth the littlecase, he leaned against the arm of it, and against the old man's arm,too, as confidingly as if children had always leaned there.
"There she is," he said, as the case opened; and he looked up with asmile.
The Earl knitted his brows; he did not wish to see the picture, but helooked at it in spite of himself; and there looked up at him from itsuch a pretty young f
ace--a face so like the child's at his side--thatit quite startled him.
"I suppose you think you are very fond of her," he said.
"Yes," answered Lord Fauntleroy, in a gentle tone, and with simpledirectness; "I do think so, and I think it's true. You see, Mr. Hobbswas my friend, and Dick and Bridget and Mary and Michael, they were myfriends, too; but Dearest--well, she is my CLOSE friend, and we alwaystell each other everything. My father left her to me to take care of,and when I am a man I am going to work and earn money for her."
"What do you think of doing?" inquired his grandfather.
His young lordship slipped down upon the hearth-rug, and sat there withthe picture still in his hand. He seemed to be reflecting seriously,before he answered.
"I did think perhaps I might go into business with Mr. Hobbs," he said;"but I should LIKE to be a President."
"We'll send you to the House of Lords instead," said his grandfather.
"Well," remarked Lord Fauntleroy, "if I COULDN'T be a President, and ifthat is a good business, I shouldn't mind. The grocery business is dullsometimes."
Perhaps he was weighing the matter in his mind, for he sat very quietafter this, and looked at the fire for some time.
The Earl did not speak again. He leaned back in his chair and watchedhim. A great many strange new thoughts passed through the old nobleman'smind. Dougal had stretched himself out and gone to sleep with his headon his huge paws. There was a long silence.
In about half an hour's time Mr. Havisham was ushered in. The great roomwas very still when he entered. The Earl was still leaning back in hischair. He moved as Mr. Havisham approached, and held up his hand in agesture of warning--it seemed as if he had scarcely intended to make thegesture--as if it were almost involuntary. Dougal was still asleep, andclose beside the great dog, sleeping also, with his curly head upon hisarm, lay little Lord Fauntleroy.