VIII
Lord Dorincourt had occasion to wear his grim smile many a time asthe days passed by. Indeed, as his acquaintance with his grandsonprogressed, he wore the smile so often that there were moments whenit almost lost its grimness. There is no denying that before LordFauntleroy had appeared on the scene, the old man had been growing verytired of his loneliness and his gout and his seventy years. After solong a life of excitement and amusement, it was not agreeable to sitalone 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 ata frightened footman who hated the sight of him. The old Earl was tooclever a man not to know perfectly well that his servants detestedhim, and that even if he had visitors, they did not come for love ofhim--though 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 gonefrom one place to another, pretending to amuse himself, though he hadnot really enjoyed it; and when his health began to fail, he felt tiredof everything and shut himself up at Dorincourt, with his gout and hisnewspapers and his books. But he could not read all the time, and hebecame more and more "bored," as he called it. He hated the long nightsand days, and he grew more and more savage and irritable. And thenFauntleroy came; and when the Earl saw him, fortunately for the littlefellow, the secret pride of the grandfather was gratified at the outset.If Cedric had been a less handsome little fellow, the old man might havetaken so strong a dislike to him that he would not have given himselfthe chance to see his grandson's finer qualities. But he chose tothink that Cedric's beauty and fearless spirit were the results of theDorincourt blood and a credit to the Dorincourt rank. And then whenhe 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 himselfrather entertained. It had amused him to give into those childish handsthe power to bestow a benefit on poor Higgins. My lord cared nothingfor poor Higgins, but it pleased him a little to think that his grandsonwould be talked about by the country people and would begin to bepopular with the tenantry, even in his childhood. Then it had gratifiedhim to drive to church with Cedric and to see the excitement andinterest caused by the arrival. He knew how the people would speak ofthe beauty of the little lad; of his fine, strong, straight body; ofhis erect bearing, his handsome face, and his bright hair, and how theywould say (as the Earl had heard one woman exclaim to another) that theboy was "every inch a lord." My lord of Dorincourt was an arrogant oldman, proud of his name, proud of his rank, and therefore proud to showthe world that at last the House of Dorincourt had an heir who wasworthy of the position he was to fill.
The morning the new pony had been tried, the Earl had been so pleasedthat he had almost forgotten his gout. When the groom had brought outthe pretty creature, which arched its brown, glossy neck and tossed itsfine head in the sun, the Earl had sat at the open window of the libraryand had looked on while Fauntleroy took his first riding lesson. Hewondered if the boy would show signs of timidity. It was not a verysmall pony, and he had often seen children lose courage in making theirfirst 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 bythe bridle up and down before the library window.
"He's a well plucked un, he is," Wilkins remarked in the stableafterward with many grins. "It weren't no trouble to put HIM up. An' aold un wouldn't ha' sat any straighter when he WERE up. He ses--seshe to me, 'Wilkins,' he ses, 'am I sitting up straight? They sit upstraight at the circus,' ses he. An' I ses, 'As straight as a arrer,your lordship!'--an' he laughs, as pleased as could be, an' he ses,'That's right,' he ses, 'you tell me if I don't sit up straight,Wilkins!'"
But sitting up straight and being led at a walk were not altogether andcompletely satisfactory. After a few minutes, Fauntleroy spoke to hisgrandfather--watching him from the window:
"Can't I go by myself?" he asked; "and can't I go faster? The boy onFifth 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 hisown 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. Hefound that trotting was not so easy as walking, and the faster the ponytrotted, the less easy it was.
"It j-jolts a g-goo-good deal--do-doesn't it?" he said to Wilkins."D-does it j-jolt y-you?"
"No, my lord," answered Wilkins. "You'll get used to it in time. Rise inyour stirrups."
"I'm ri-rising all the t-time," said Fauntleroy.
He was both rising and falling rather uncomfortably and with many shakesand bounces. He was out of breath and his face grew red, but he held onwith all his might, and sat as straight as he could. The Earl couldsee that from his window. When the riders came back within speakingdistance, after they had been hidden by the trees a few minutes,Fauntleroy's hat was off, his cheeks were like poppies, and his lipswere 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 evidentenjoyment. "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 knowedwhat it meant. I've taught young gen'lemen to ride afore, an' I neversee one stick on more determinder."
"Tired?" said the Earl to Fauntleroy. "Want to get off?"
"It jolts you more than you think it will," admitted his young lordshipfrankly. "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 forthe hat."
The cleverest person in the world, if he had undertaken to teachFauntleroy how to please the old man who watched him, could not havetaught him anything which would have succeeded better. As the ponytrotted off again toward the avenue, a faint color crept up in thefierce old face, and the eyes, under the shaggy brows, gleamed with apleasure such as his lordship had scarcely expected to know again. Andhe sat and watched quite eagerly until the sound of the horses' hoofsreturned. When they did come, which was after some time, they came at afaster pace. Fauntleroy's hat was still off; Wilkins was carrying it forhim; his cheeks were redder than before, and his hair was flying abouthis ears, but he came at quite a brisk canter.
"There!" he panted, as they drew up, "I c-cantered. I didn't do it aswell as the boy on Fifth Avenue, but I did it, and I staid on!"
He and Wilkins and the pony were close friends after that. Scarcely aday passed in which the country people did not see them out together,cantering gayly on the highroad or through the green lanes. The childrenin the cottages would run to the door to look at the proud little brownpony 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, andshout, "Hullo! Good-morning!" in a very unlordly manner, though withgreat heartiness. Sometimes he would stop and talk with the children,and once Wilkins came back to the castle with a story of how Fauntleroyhad insisted on dismounting near the village school, so that a boy whowas lame and tired might ride home on his pony.
"An' I'm blessed," said Wilkins, in telling the story at thestables,--"I'm blessed if he'd hear of anything else! He wouldn't letme get down, because he said the boy mightn't feel comfortable on a bighorse. An' ses he, 'Wilkins,' ses 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 lordtrudges alongside of him with his hands in his pockets, and his cap onthe back of his head, a-whistling and talking as easy as you please!And when we come to the cottage, an' the boy's mother come out all in ataking to see what's up, he whips off his
cap an' ses he, 'I've broughtyour son home, ma'am,' ses he, 'because his leg hurt him, and I don'tthink that stick is enough for him to lean on; and I'm going to ask mygrandfather to have a pair of crutches made for him.' An' I'm blessed ifthe woman wasn't struck all of a heap, as well she might be! I thought Ishould 'a' hex-plodid, myself!"
When the Earl heard the story he was not angry, as Wilkins had beenhalf afraid that he would be; on the contrary, he laughed outright, andcalled Fauntleroy up to him, and made him tell all about the matter frombeginning to end, and then he laughed again. And actually, a few dayslater, the Dorincourt carriage stopped in the green lane before thecottage where the lame boy lived, and Fauntleroy jumped out andwalked up to the door, carrying a pair of strong, light, new crutchesshouldered like a gun, and presented them to Mrs. Hartle (the lame boy'sname was Hartle) with these words: "My grandfather's compliments, and ifyou 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 tothe 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 twowere becoming more intimate every day, and every day Fauntleroy's faithin his lordship's benevolence and virtue increased. He had no doubtwhatever that his grandfather was the most amiable and generous ofelderly gentlemen. Certainly, he himself found his wishes gratifiedalmost before they were uttered; and such gifts and pleasures werelavished upon him, that he was sometimes almost bewildered by his ownpossessions. Apparently, he was to have everything he wanted, and todo everything he wished to do. And though this would certainly not havebeen a very wise plan to pursue with all small boys, his young lordshipbore it amazingly well. Perhaps, notwithstanding his sweet nature, hemight have been somewhat spoiled by it, if it had not been for thehours he spent with his mother at Court Lodge. That "best friend" of hiswatched over him ever closely and tenderly. The two had many long talkstogether, and he never went back to the Castle with her kisses on hischeeks without carrying in his heart some simple, pure words worthremembering.
There was one thing, it is true, which puzzled the little fellow verymuch. He thought over the mystery of it much oftener than any onesupposed; even his mother did not know how often he pondered on it; theEarl for a long time never suspected that he did so at all. But, beingquick to observe, the little boy could not help wondering why it wasthat his mother and grandfather never seemed to meet. He had noticedthat they never did meet. When the Dorincourt carriage stopped atCourt Lodge, the Earl never alighted, and on the rare occasions of hislordship's going to church, Fauntleroy was always left to speak to hismother in the porch alone, or perhaps to go home with her. Andyet, every day, fruit and flowers were sent to Court Lodge from thehot-houses at the Castle. But the one virtuous action of the Earl'swhich had set him upon the pinnacle of perfection in Cedric's eyes, waswhat he had done soon after that first Sunday when Mrs. Errol had walkedhome from church unattended. About a week later, when Cedric was goingone day to visit his mother, he found at the door, instead of the largecarriage and prancing pair, a pretty little brougham and a handsome bayhorse.
"That is a present from you to your mother," the Earl said abruptly."She can not go walking about the country. She needs a carriage. The manwho drives will take charge of it. It is a present from YOU."
Fauntleroy's delight could but feebly express itself. He could scarcelycontain himself until he reached the lodge. His mother was gatheringroses in the garden. He flung himself out of the little brougham andflew to her.
"Dearest!" he cried, "could you believe it? This is yours! He says it isa 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 haveborne to spoil his pleasure by refusing to accept the gift even thoughit came from the man who chose to consider himself her enemy. She wasobliged to step into the carriage, roses and all, and let herself betaken to drive, while Fauntleroy told her stories of his grandfather'sgoodness and amiability. They were such innocent stories that sometimesshe could not help laughing a little, and then she would draw her littleboy closer to her side and kiss him, feeling glad that he could see onlygood in the old man, who had so few friends.
The very next day after that, Fauntleroy wrote to Mr. Hobbs. He wrotequite a long letter, and after the first copy was written, he brought itto his grandfather to be inspected.
"Because," he said, "it's so uncertain about the spelling. And if you'lltell me the mistakes, I'll write it out again."
This was what he had written:
"My dear mr hobbs i want to tell you about my granfarther he is the bestearl you ever new it is a mistake about earls being tirents he is not atirent at all i wish you new him you would be good friends i am sureyou would he has the gout in his foot and is a grate sufrer but he isso pashent i love him more every day becaus no one could help loving anearl like that who is kind to every one in this world i wish youcould talk to him he knows everything in the world you can ask him anyquestion but he has never plaid base ball he has given me a pony and acart and my mamma a bewtifle cariage and I have three rooms and toys ofall kinds it would serprise you you would like the castle and the parkit is such a large castle you could lose yourself wilkins tells mewilkins is my groom he says there is a dungon under the castle it isso pretty everything in the park would serprise you there are such bigtrees and there are deers and rabbits and games flying about in thecover my granfarther is very rich but he is not proud and orty as youthought earls always were i like to be with him the people are so politeand kind they take of their hats to you and the women make curtsies andsometimes say god bless you i can ride now but at first it shook me wheni troted my granfarther let a poor man stay on his farm when he couldnot pay his rent and mrs mellon went to take wine and things to his sickchildren i should like to see you and i wish dearest could live at thecastle but i am very happy when i dont miss her too much and i love mygranfarther every one does plees write soon
"your afechshnet old frend
"Cedric Errol
"p s no one is in the dungon my granfarfher never had any one langwishinin there.
"p s he is such a good earl he reminds me of you he is a unerverslefavrit"
"Do you miss your mother very much?" asked the Earl when he had finishedreading this.
"Yes," said Fauntleroy, "I miss her all the time."
He went and stood before the Earl and put his hand on his knee, lookingup at him.
"YOU don't miss her, do you?" he said.
"I don't know her," answered his lordship rather crustily.
"I know that," said Fauntleroy, "and that's what makes me wonder. Shetold me not to ask you any questions, and--and I won't, but sometimes Ican't help thinking, you know, and it makes me all puzzled. But I'm notgoing to ask any questions. And when I miss her very much, I go andlook out of my window to where I see her light shine for me every nightthrough an open place in the trees. It is a long way off, but she putsit in her window as soon as it is dark, and I can see it twinkle faraway, 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 usedto 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 amquite safe all the time----"
"Quite, I have no doubt," said his lordship dryly. And he drew down hisbeetling eyebrows and looked at the little boy so fixedly and so longthat Fauntleroy wondered what he could be thinking of.