CEDRIC'S FRIENDS.
There was never a more amazed little boy than Cedric during the week
that followed; there was never so strange or so unreal a week. In the
first place, the story his mamma told him was a very curious one. He was
obliged to hear it two or three times before he could understand it. He
could not imagine what Mr. Hobbs would think of it. It began with earls;
his grandpapa, whom he had never seen, was an earl; and his eldest
uncle, if he had not been killed by a fall from his horse, would have
been an earl, too, in time; and after his death, his other uncle would
have been an earl, if he had not died suddenly, in Rome, of a fever.
After that, his own papa, if he had lived, would have been an earl; but
since they all had died and only Cedric was left, it appeared that _he_
was to be an earl after his grandpapa's death--and for the present he
was Lord Fauntleroy.
He turned quite pale when he was first told of it.
"Oh! Dearest!" he said, "I should rather not be an earl. None of the
boys are earls. Can't I _not_ be one?"
But it seemed to be unavoidable. And when, that evening, they sat
together by the open window looking out into the shabby street, he and
his mother had a long talk about it. Cedric sat on his footstool,
clasping one knee in his favourite attitude and wearing a bewildered
little face rather red from the exertion of thinking. His grandfather
had sent for him to come to England, and his mamma thought he must go.
"Because," she said, looking out of the window with sorrowful eyes, "I
know your papa would wish it to be so, Ceddie. I should be a selfish
little mother if I did not send you. 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.
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. But, somehow, it did not console
him to hear that he was to be a very rich man when he grew up, and that
he would have castles here and castles there, and great parks and deep
mines and grand estates and tenantry. He was troubled about his friend,
Mr. Hobbs, and he went to see him at the store soon after breakfast, in
great anxiety of mind.
He found him reading the morning paper, and he approached him with a
grave demeanour. He really felt it would be a great shock to Mr. Hobbs
to hear what had befallen him, and on his way to the store he had been
thinking how it would be best to break the news.
"Hello!" said Mr. Hobbs. "Mornin'!"
"Good-morning," said Cedric.
He did not climb up on the high stool as usual, but sat down on a
biscuit-box and clasped his knee, and was so silent for a few moments
that Mr. Hobbs finally looked up inquiringly over the top of his
newspaper.
"Hello!" he said again.
Cedric gathered all his strength of mind together.
"Mr. Hobbs," he said, "do you remember what we were talking about
yesterday morning?"
"Well," replied Mr. Hobbs,--"seems to me it was England."
"Yes," said Cedric; "but just when Mary came for me, you know?"
Mr. Hobbs rubbed the back of his head.
"We _was_ mentioning Queen Victoria and the aristocracy."
"Yes," said Cedric, rather hesitatingly, "and--and earls; don't you
know?"
"Why, yes," returned Mr. Hobbs; "that's so!"
"You said," proceeded Cedric, "that you wouldn't have them sitting
'round on your biscuit barrels."
"So I did!" returned Mr. Hobbs, stoutly.
"Mr. Hobbs," said Cedric, "one is sitting on this box now!"
Mr. Hobbs almost jumped out of his chair.
"What!" he exclaimed.
"Yes," Cedric announced, with due modesty; "_I_ am one--or I am going to
be. I shan't deceive you."
Mr. Hobbs looked agitated. He rose up suddenly and went to look at the
thermometer.
"The mercury's got into your head!" he exclaimed, turning back to
examine his young friend's countenance. "It _is_ a hot day! How do you
feel?"
He put his big hand on the little boy's hair.
"Thank you," said Ceddie; "I'm all right. There is nothing the matter
with my head. I'm sorry to say it's true, Mr. Hobbs. That was what Mary
came to take me home for. Mr. Havisham was telling my mamma, and he is a
lawyer."
Mr. Hobbs sank into his chair and mopped his forehead with his
handkerchief.
"_One_ of us has got a sunstroke!" he exclaimed.
"No," returned Cedric, "we have not. Mr. Havisham came all the way from
England to tell us about it. My grandpapa sent him."
Mr. Hobbs stared wildly at the innocent, serious little face before him.
"Who is your grandfather?" he asked.
Cedric put his hand in his pocket and carefully drew out a piece of
paper, on which something was written in his own round, irregular hand.
"I couldn't easily remember it, so I wrote it down on this," he said.
And he read aloud slowly: "'John Arthur Molyneux Errol, Earl of
Dorincourt.' That is his name, and he lives in a castle--in two or three
castles, I think. And my papa, who died, was his youngest son; and I
shouldn't have been a lord or an earl if my papa hadn't died; and my
papa wouldn't have been an earl if his two brothers hadn't died, and my
grandpapa has sent for me to come to England."
Mr. Hobbs seemed to grow hotter and hotter. He mopped his forehead and
breathed hard. He began to see that something very remarkable had
happened.
"Wha--what did you say your name was?" Mr. Hobbs inquired.
"It's Cedric Errol, Lord Fauntleroy," answered Cedric. "That was what
Mr. Havisham called me."
"Well," said Mr. Hobbs, "I'll be--jiggered!"
This was an exclamation he always used when he was very much astonished
or excited. He could think of nothing else to say just at that puzzling
moment.
Cedric looked at Mr. Hobbs wistfully.
"England is a long way off, isn't it?" he asked.
"It's across the Atlantic Ocean," Mr. Hobbs answered.
"That's the worst of it," said Cedric. "Perhaps I shall not see you
again for a long time. I don't like to think of that, Mr. Hobbs."
"The best of friends must part," said Mr. Hobbs.
"Well," said Cedric, "we have been friends for a great many years,
haven't we?"
"Ever since you was born," Mr. Hobbs answered.
"Ah," remarked Cedric, with a sigh, "I never thought I should have to be
an earl then!"
"You think," said Mr. Hobbs, "there's no getting out of it?"
"I'm afraid not," answered Cedric. "My mamma says that my papa would
wish me to do it. But if I have to be an earl, I can try to be a good
one. I'm not going to be a tyrant."
His conversation with Mr. Hobbs was a long and serious one. Once having
got over the first shock, Mr. Hobbs endeavoured to resign himself to the
situation, and before the interview was at an end he had asked a great
many questions. As Cedric could answer but few of them, he endeavoured
to answer them himself, and explained many things in a way which would
probably have astonished Mr. Havisham, could that gentleman have heard
it.
But then there were many things which astonished Mr. Havisham. He had
known all about the old Earl's disappointment in his elder sons and all
about his fierce rage at Captain Cedric's American marriage, and he knew
how he still hated the gentle little widow and would not speak of her
except with bitter and cruel words. He insisted that she was only a
common American girl, who had entrapped his son into marrying her
because she knew he was an earl's son. The old lawyer himself had more
than half believed this was all true. When he had been driven into the
cheap street, and his coupé had stopped before the cheap small house, he
had felt actually shocked.
When Mary handed him into the small parlour he looked around it
critically. It was plainly furnished but it had a home-like look; the
few adornments on the walls were in good taste, and about the room were
many pretty things which a woman's hand might have made.
The lawyer's experience taught him to read people's characters very
shrewdly, and as soon as he saw Cedric's mother he knew that the old
Earl had made a great mistake in thinking her a vulgar, mercenary woman.
When he first told Mrs. Errol what he had come for, she turned very
pale.
"Oh!" she said; "will he have to be taken away from me? We love each
other so much! He is such a happiness to me! He is all I have." And her
sweet young voice trembled, and the tears rushed into her eyes. "You do
not know what he has been to me!" she said.
The lawyer cleared his throat.
"I am obliged to tell you," he said, "that the Earl of Dorincourt is
not--is not very friendly toward you. He is an old man, and his
prejudices are very strong. He has always especially disliked America
and Americans, and was very much enraged by his son's marriage. I am
sorry to be the bearer of so unpleasant a communication, but he is very
fixed in his determination not to see you. His plan is that Lord
Fauntleroy shall be educated under his own supervision; that he shall
live with him. The Earl is attached to Dorincourt Castle, and spends a
great deal of time there. Lord Fauntleroy will, therefore, be likely to
live chiefly at Dorincourt. The Earl offers to you as a home, Court
Lodge, which is situated pleasantly, and is not very far from the
castle. He also offers you a suitable income. Lord Fauntleroy will be
permitted to visit you; the only stipulation is, that you shall not
visit him. You see you will not be really separated from your son."
He felt a little uneasy lest she should begin to cry or make a scene.
But she did not. She went to the window and stood with her face turned
away for a few moments.
"Captain Errol was very fond of Dorincourt," she said at last. "He loved
England, and everything English. It was always a grief to him that he
was parted from his home. I know he would wish, that his son should know
the beautiful old places, and be brought up in such a way as would be
suitable to his future position."
Then she came back to the table and stood looking up at Mr. Havisham
very gently.
"My husband would wish it," she said. "It will be best for my little
boy. I know--I am sure the Earl would not be so unkind as to try to
teach him not to love me; and I know--even if he tried--that my little
boy is too much like his father to be harmed. I hope, that his
grandfather will love Ceddie. The little boy has a very affectionate
nature; and he has always been loved."
Mr. Havisham cleared his throat again. He could not quite imagine the
gouty, fiery-tempered old Earl loving any one very much; but he knew
that if Ceddie were at all a credit to his name, his grandfather would
be proud of him.
"Lord Fauntleroy will be comfortable, I am sure," he replied. "It was
with a view to his happiness that the Earl desired that you should be
near enough to him to see him frequently."
When the door opened and the child came into the room, he recognised in
an instant that here was one of the finest and handsomest little fellows
he had ever seen. His beauty was something unusual. He had a strong,
lithe, graceful little body and a manly little face; he was so like his
father that it was really startling; he had his father's golden hair and
his mother's brown eyes. They were innocently fearless eyes; he looked
as if he had never feared or doubted anything in his life.
"He is the best-bred-looking and handsomest little fellow I ever saw,"
was what Mr. Havisham thought. What he said aloud was simply, "And so
this is little Lord Fauntleroy."
Cedric did not know he was being observed, and he only behaved himself
in his ordinary manner. He shook hands with Mr. Havisham in his friendly
way when they were introduced to each other, and he answered all his
questions with the unhesitating readiness with which he answered Mr.
Hobbs.
The next time Mr. Havisham met him, he had quite a long conversation
with him--a conversation which made him smile, and rub his chin with his
bony hand several times.
Mrs. Errol had been called out of the parlour, and the lawyer and Cedric
were left together.
Mr. Havisham sat in an arm-chair on one side of the open window; on the
other side was another still larger chair, and Cedric sat in that and
looked at Mr. Havisham. There was a short silence after Mrs. Errol went
out, and Cedric seemed to be studying Mr. Havisham, and Mr. Havisham was
certainly studying Cedric. He could not make up his mind as to what an
elderly gentleman should say to a little boy.
But Cedric relieved him by suddenly beginning the conversation himself.
"Do you know," he said, "I don't know what an earl is?"
"Don't you?" said Mr. Havisham.
"No," replied Ceddie. "And I think when a boy is going to be one, he
ought to know. Don't you?"
"Well--yes," answered Mr. Havisham, "An earl is--is a very important
person."
"So is a president!" put in Ceddie.
"An earl," Mr. Havisham went on, "is frequently of very ancient
lineage----"
"What's that?" asked Ceddie.
"Of very old family--extremely old."
"Ah!" said Cedric, thrusting his hands deeper into his pockets. "I
suppose that is the way with the apple-woman near the park. I dare say
she is of ancient lin-lenage. She is so old it would surprise you how
she can stand up."
Mr. Havisham felt rather at a loss as he looked at his companion's
innocent, serious little face.
"I am afraid you did not quite understand me," he explained. "When I
said 'ancient lineage' I did not mean old age; I meant that the name of
such a family has been known in the world a long time; perhaps for
hundreds of years persons bearing that name have been known and spoken
of in the history of their country."
"Like George Washington," said Ceddie. "I've heard of him ever since I
was born, and he was known about long before that. Mr. Hobbs says he
will never be forgotten. That's because of the Declaration of
Independence, you know, and the Fourth of July. You see, he was a very
brave man."
"The first Earl of Dorincourt," said Mr. Havisham solemnly, "was created
an earl four hundred years ago."
"Well, well!" said Ceddie. "That was a long time ago! Did you tell
Dearest that? It would int'rust her very much. She always likes to hear
cur'us things. What else does an earl do besides being created?"
"A great many of them have helped to govern England. Some of them have
been brave men and have fought in great battles in the old days."
"I should like to do that myself," said Cedric. "My papa was a soldier,
and he was a very brave man--as brave as George Washington. Perhaps that
was because he would have been an earl if he hadn't died. I am glad
earls are brave. That's a great 'vantage--to be a brave man."
"There is another advantage in being an earl, sometimes," said Mr.
Havisham slowly. "Some earls have a great deal of money."
He was curious because he wondered if his young friend knew what the
power of money was.
"That's a good thing to have," said Ceddie innocently. "I wish I had a
great deal of money."
"Do you?" said Mr. Havisham. "And why?"
"Well," explained Cedric, "there are so many things a person can do with
money. You see there's the apple-woman. If I were very rich I should buy
her a little tent to put her stall in, and a little stove, and then I
should give her a dollar every morning it rained, so that she could
afford to stay at home."
"Ahem!" said Mr. Havisham. "And what else would you do if you were
rich?"
"Oh! I'd do a great many things. Of course I should buy Dearest all
sorts of beautiful things, needle-books and fans and gold thimbles and
rings, and an encyclopedia, and a carriage, so that she needn't have to
wait for the street-cars. And then Dick----"
"Who is Dick?" asked Mr. Havisham.
"Dick is a boot-black," said his young lordship, quite warming up in his
interest in plans so exciting. "He is one of the nicest boot-blacks you
ever knew. He stands at the corner of a street down town. I've known him
for years. Once when I was very little, I was walking out with Dearest
and she bought me a beautiful ball that bounced, and I was carrying it,
and it bounced into the middle of the street where the carriages and
horses were, and I was so disappointed, I began to cry--I was very
little. Dick ran in between the horses and caught the ball for me and
wiped it off with his coat and gave it to me and said; 'It's all right,
young un.' So Dearest admired him very much, and so did I, and ever
since then, when we go down town, we talk to him."
"And what would you like to do for him?" inquired the lawyer, rubbing
his chin and smiling a queer smile.
"Well," said Lord Fauntleroy, settling himself in his chair with a
business air; "I'd buy Jake out."
"And who is Jake?" Mr. Havisham asked.
"He's Dick's partner, and he is the worst partner a fellow could have!
Dick says so. He isn't a credit to the business, and he isn't square. He
cheats, and that makes Dick mad. So if I were rich, I'd buy Jake out and
I'd get Dick some new clothes and new brushes, and start him out fair."
"What would you get for yourself, if you were rich?" asked Mr. Havisham.
"Lots of things!" answered Lord Fauntleroy briskly: "but first I'd give
Mary some money for Bridget--that's her sister, with twelve children,
and a husband out of work. And I think Mr. Hobbs would like a gold watch
and chain to remember me by, and a meerschaum pipe."
The door opened and Mrs. Errol came in.
"I am sorry to have been obliged to leave you so long," she said to Mr.
Havisham; "but a poor woman, who is in great trouble, came to see me."
"This young gentleman," said Mr. Havisham, "has been telling me about
some of his friends, and what he would do for them if he were rich."
"Bridget is one of his friends," said Mrs. Errol; "and it is Bridget to
whom I have been talking in the kitchen. She is in great trouble now
because her husband has rheumatic fever."
Cedric slipped down out of his big chair.
"I think I'll go and see her," he said, "and ask her how he is. He's a
nice man when he is well, he once made me a sword out of wood."
He ran out of the room, and Mr. Havisham rose from his chair. He seemed
to have something in his mind which he wished to speak of. He hesitated
a moment, and then said, looking down at Mrs. Errol:
"Before I left Dorincourt Castle I had an interview with the Earl, in
which he gave me some instructions. He said that I must let his lordship
know that the change in his life would bring him money and the pleasures
children enjoy; if he expressed any wishes I was to gratify them, and to
tell him that his grandfather had given him what he wished. I am aware
that the Earl did not expect anything quite like this; but if it would
give Lord Fauntleroy pleasure to assist this poor woman, I should feel
that the Earl would be displeased if he were not gratified."
"Oh!" Mrs. Errol said, "that was very kind of the Earl; Cedric will be
so glad! He has always been fond of Bridget and Michael. They are quite
deserving."
Mr. Havisham put his thin hand in his breast pocket and drew forth a
large pocket-book. There was a queer look in his keen face. The truth
was, he was wondering what the Earl of Dorincourt would say when he was
told what was the first wish of his grandson that had been granted.
"I do not know that you have realised," he said, "that the Earl of
Dorincourt is an exceedingly rich man. I think it would please him to
know that Lord Fauntleroy had been indulged in any fancy. If you will
call him back and allow me, I shall give him five pounds for these
people."
"That would be twenty-five dollars!" exclaimed Mrs. Errol. "It will seem
like wealth to them. I can scarcely believe that it is true."
"It is quite true," said Mr. Havisham, with his dry smile. "A great
change has taken place in your son's life, a great deal of power will
lie in his hands."
"Oh!" cried his mother. "And he is such a little boy--a very little boy.
How can I teach him to use it well? It makes me half afraid. My pretty
little Ceddie!"
The lawyer slightly cleared his throat. It touched his worldly, hard old
heart to see the tender, timid look in her brown eyes.
"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 parlour.
His little face looked quite anxious when he came in. He was very sorry
for Bridget.
"Dearest said you wanted me," he said to Mr. Havisham. "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.
"Ceddie," she said, "the Earl is your grandpapa, your own papa's father.
He is very, very kind, and he loves you and wishes you to love him,
because the sons who were his little boys are dead. He wishes you to be
happy and to make other people happy. He is very rich, and he wishes you
to have everything you would like to have. He told Mr. Havisham so, and
gave him a great deal of money for you. You can give some to Bridget
now, enough to pay her rent and buy Michael everything. Isn't that fine,
Ceddie? Isn't he good?" And she kissed the child on his round cheek,
where the bright colour suddenly flashed up in his excited amazement.
He looked from his mother to Mr. Havisham.
"Can I have it now?" he cried. "Can I give it to her this minute? She's
just going."
Mr. Havisham handed him the money. It was in fresh clean greenbacks and
made a neat roll.
Ceddie flew out of the room.
"Bridget!" they heard him shout, as he tore into the kitchen. "Bridget,
wait a minute! Here's some money. It's for you, and you can pay the
rent. My grandpapa gave it to me. It's for you and Michael!"
"Oh, Master Ceddie!" cried Bridget, in an awestricken voice. "It's
twinty-foive dollars is here. Where's the mistress?"
"I think I shall have to go and explain it to her," Mrs. Errol said.
So she, too, went out of the room, and Mr. Havisham was left alone for a
while. He went to the window and stood looking out into the street
reflectively. He was thinking of the old Earl of Dorincourt, sitting in
his great, splendid, gloomy library at the castle, gouty and lonely,
surrounded by grandeur and luxury, but not really loved by any one,
because in all his long life he had never really loved any one but
himself. He could fill his castle with guests if he chose, but he knew
that in secret the people who would accept his invitations were afraid
of his frowning old face and sarcastic, biting speeches.
Mr. Havisham knew his hard, fierce ways by heart, and he was thinking of
him as he looked out of the window into the quiet, narrow street. And
there rose in his mind, in sharp contrast, the picture of the cheery,
handsome little fellow sitting in the big chair and telling his story of
his friends, Dick and the apple-woman, in his generous, innocent, honest
way. And he thought of the immense income, the beautiful, majestic
estates, the wealth, and power for good or evil, which in the course of
time would lie in the small, chubby hands little Lord Fauntleroy thrust
so deep into his pockets.
"It will make a great difference," he said to himself. "It will make a
great difference."
Cedric and his mother came back soon after. Cedric was in high spirits.
He was glowing with enjoyment of Bridget's relief and rapture.
"She cried!" he said. "She said she was crying for joy. I never saw any
one cry for joy before. My grandpapa must be a very good man. I didn't
know he was so good a man. It's more--more agreeable to be an earl than
I thought it was. I'm almost glad--I'm almost _quite_ glad I'm going to
be one."