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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 Dorincourt, 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.
The instant he could help, he put out his hand and offered his shoulder as if he had been seven feet high. It was plain enough to every one that however it might be with other people, the Earl of Dorincourt struck no terror into the breast of his grandson. "Just lean on me," they heard him say. "How glad the people are to see you, and how well they all seem to know you!"
"I've been talking to Bridget." Mr. Havisham looked down at him a moment. He felt a little awkward and undecided. As Cedric's mother had said, he was a very little boy. "The Earl of Dorincourt " he began, and then he glanced involuntarily at Mrs. Errol. Little Lord Fauntleroy's mother suddenly kneeled down by him and put both her tender arms around his childish body.
When you are a man, you will see why." Ceddie shook his head mournfully. "I shall be very sorry to leave Mr. Hobbs," he said. "I'm afraid he'll miss me, and I shall miss him. And I shall miss them all." When Mr. Havisham who was the family lawyer of the Earl of Dorincourt, and who had been sent by him to bring Lord Fauntleroy to England came the next day, Cedric heard many things.
My lord of Dorincourt 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 Dorincourt 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.
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 Dorincourt blood and a credit to the Dorincourt rank.
Not at all as if his slumber were disturbed by the fact that he was being proved a small impostor 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.
"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. "I know it wouldn't," she answered. "I know his lordship the Earl of Dorincourt too well; but it is outrageous."
Her fair young face flushed. "It is a very magnificent thing to be the Earl of Dorincourt, 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." "In striking contrast to what his grandfather was, eh?" said his lordship sardonically. "I have not had the pleasure of knowing his grandfather," replied Mrs.
"I think, madam," he said, "that if I may judge from my interview with Lord Fauntleroy this morning, the next Earl of Dorincourt will think for others as well as for his noble self. He is only a child yet, but I think he may be trusted." Then his mother went for Cedric and brought him back into the parlor. Mr. Havisham heard him talking before he entered the room.
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