Chapter 10, Extraordinary News.
The truth was that Mrs Errol had found many sad things in the village of Earlsboro.
The people were poor and sick and feeling hopeless.
When Mrs. Errol had first visited, it made her shudder.
It was crowded and dirty and sad.
As she watched the sick children running around with ragged clothes on their backs, she thought of her own son spending his days in a splendid castle, living like a prince, and it gave her a bold idea.
Cedric had the good fortune of being the Earl's favorite companion.
The Earl wanted to please the boy however he could.
If there was something that Cedric wanted, the Earl would not refuse him.
Mrs Errol knew she could trust her son's kind, innocent heart, so she told him the story of Earl's court.
She told him everything.
She felt sure that he would mention it to his grandfather.
The Earl heard Cedric's story, but he didn't know what to say at first.
He knew he wasn't a good person, but he loved that his grandson thought he was good and admired him for it.
What could he do?
Look into those warm brown eyes and say, I am a selfish old rascal.
I never did a good thing in my life, and I don't care about Earl's Court or the poor people.
He couldn't say that.
And so he called for Newick.
They decided that they would tear down the horrible houses in Earl's Court and build new ones.
It is Lord Fauntleroy who wants this, the Earl told Newick.
You can tell the tenants that it was his idea.
It happened just as Mrs. Errol had hoped it would.
Soon enough, workers had come to tear down the dirty cottages.
Everyone in the village knew that little Lord Fauntleroy had helped them again.
If only the boy knew how they talked about him and praised him everywhere, how astonished he would have been.
But he never realized.
He lived his simple, happy life as usual.
He played in the gardens.
He read wonderful books and talked about them with the Earl.
He wrote long letters to Dick and to Mr. Hobbs.
He rode his pony into town at his grandfather's side.
Cedric and the earl often rode over to earl's court together to watch the cottages being built.
Cedric liked to learn about building and bricklaying.
He asked many questions and ended up making friends with all the workers.
When he left, the workers would talk about him.
They would go home and tell their wives about him, and the women would tell one another.
Soon.
Almost everyone in the village knew some story about little Lord Fauntleroy and they knew that the wicked Earl had found someone he cared for at last.
Someone had finally warmed his bitter old heart.
But no one knew quite how much it had warmed.
Day by day, the Earl found himself caring more for his grandson, the only creature who had ever trusted him.
The Earl looked forward to the day the boy would grow up.
He wondered what he'd become.
The boy can do anything, he would tell himself.
One evening, just before the Earl's Court cottages were finished, there was a grand dinner party at Dorincourt Castle.
There had not been a dinner party there for a long time.
The earl had even invited his sister, Lady Loredale.
They hadn't spoken in many, many years.
But when she and her husband received the invitation to go to the castle and meet the earl's heir, she couldn't resist.
Lady Loredale had heard a great many things about her brother over the years.
She knew that he had paid very little attention to his children and she knew how he had disliked them when they were older, especially the first two boys.
She knew how ashamed of them he had been.
She had met only the Earl's youngest son, Captain Errol.
He had come to visit her on his own.
Lady Loredale's kind heart had warmed through and through with the sight of him, and she had made him stay with her for a week.
He was so sweet and light-hearted that she had hoped to see him again.
But when the Earl found out about the stay, he told his son never to visit again.
Lady Lauradale always remembered Captain Errol tenderly.
She had heard about his marriage in New York and agreed that it was too quick.
But she was very angry to hear that her brother had disowned him.
Then came news of the captain's death, and then his two older brothers had died.
And soon after came the story of the American child who had been brought to England to be Lord Fauntleroy.
Lady Lauradale had become even angrier when she learned how the earl treated the little Lord Fauntleroy's mother.
It was a disgrace.
The stories of the kind, generous Lord Fauntleroy and what he had done for the people of Earlsborough had traveled far and wide.
But when she met the boy himself, Lady Lauradale discovered that he was even more delightful than the rumors had said he was.
She met him the morning of the dinner party and said to him I am your aunt, Lady Lauradale, and I loved your poor papa.
You were just like him, you know that?
Cedric smiled, flushing slightly.
It makes me glad when people say that he said, because it seems as if everyone liked him, just like dearest.
Lady Lauradale bent down and kissed the boy.
From that moment they were warm friends.
After meeting Cedric, Lady Loredale pulled the Earl aside and said to him It could not possibly be better than this.
I think not, said the Earl.
He is a fine little fellow.
We are great friends.
I will confess to you I am in some slight danger of being rather an old fool about him.
What does his mother think of you? asked Lady Lauradale.
I have not asked her, said the Earl, scowling.
Well, said Lady Lauradale, I will be frank with you.
I don't approve of what you're doing.
I will be going to visit her today before the party.
If you wish to argue with me, do it now.
What I hear of the young mother is that the child is lucky to have her.
We have heard, even at Lauradale Park, that your poor tenants adore her already.
They adore him, said the Earl, nodding towards Cedric.
As to Mrs. Errol, you'll find her to be a pretty little woman.
I'm rather in debt to her for giving some of her beauty to the boy.
You may go see her if you like.
All I ask is that she remain at Court Lodge, and that you not ask me to see her.
Then he scowled again.
Lady Lauradale went to visit Mrs. Errol right away.
When she returned, she said to her brother, She is the loveliest woman I ever saw.
She has a voice like a silver bell.
You may thank her for making the boy what he is.
She has given him more than her beauty.
You make a great mistake in not inviting her to live here.
But the earl didn't say a word.
That evening was the dinner party.
Cedric was the center of attention.
Everyone had something to say to him.
They loved to hear him talk.
He was so young and yet so serious about a great many worldly topics.
The ladies petted him and asked him questions.
The men asked him questions, too, and joked with him.
Cedric thought the whole evening was delightful.
Even though everyone wanted to talk to him, Cedric still made time for his grandfather.
More than once during the party he went to stand beside the Earl's chair.
The Earl saw how people noticed and he smiled to himself.
He knew what they were thinking.
They were surprised that such a fine little boy obviously thought so highly of him.
It pleased the Earl to no end.
Mr. Havisham was supposed to be at the party too, but he was late.
Mr. Havisham was never ever late.
The Earl found it quite strange.
Mr. Havisham finally arrived just as the guests were about to go in to dinner.
He approached the Earl before entering the dining room.
Mr. Havisham had an odd look on his face and was quite pale.
I was delayed, Mr Havisham said, by an extraordinary event, but there was no time to find out what the extraordinary event was.
Dinner was served, and the Earl sat down at the head of the table in front of his many guests.
The Earl noted that Mr. Havisham hardly ate a bite.
He didn't smile, and he kept looking nervously over at Cedric.
Finally, dinner ended, and the guests moved to the drawing room.
Cedric followed, keeping up his talk with all his new friends.
He had enjoyed himself so much that he wanted to stay up as late as he could.
But soon as he sat on the sofa and listened to the guests talk, his eyelids began to droop.
He was quite sure he wasn't going to sleep, but there was a large yellow satin cushion behind him.
His head sank against the cushion, and his eyelids drooped again.
This time they stayed closed.
No sooner had the last guest left the room than Mr. Havisham turned from his place by the fire.
He stepped nearer to the sofa.
There was the little Lord Fauntleroy, fast asleep.
Mr Havisham spent a long moment staring at his pretty flushed face and his tangled hair on the yellow cushion.
He had some strange and painful news to tell the Earl, and this sight made him not want to say it.
What is it? demanded the Earl's harsh voice from behind Mr. Havisham.
What was the extraordinary event?
Mr. Havisham turned, rubbing his chin.
It is bad news, he said, the worst of news.
I'm sorry to have to tell you.
The Earl was feeling very nervous.
Why do you look like that at the boy? he said.
What does your news have to do with him?
My lord, started Mr. Havisham, I will waste no words.
My news has everything to do with the boy and, if we are to believe it, this is not Lord Fauntleroy who lies sleeping here on the sofa, but only the son of Captain Errol.
The real Lord Fauntleroy is the child of your oldest son Beavis, and is at this moment in a lodging house in London.
The earl clutched the arms of his chair.
His fierce old face was filled with rage.
What do you mean? he cried.
You lie.
Mr. Havisham shook his head.
A woman came to see me this morning.
She said Beavis married her six years ago in London.
They had a bad argument a year after their marriage, and he paid her to stay away from him.
She has a son, who she says is Beavis's.
She is an American of the lower class, an ignorant person, and until lately she did not understand what rights her son could claim as the heir to an earl.
Then she met with a lawyer and found out that her son is really Lord Fauntleroy, heir to Dorincourt.
On the sofa the boy sighed in his sleep.
The earl stared at his grandson.
I should refuse to believe a word of it, he said, if it were not such ugly news.
But it sounds a lot like my son, Beavis.
It is something Beavis would do.
The woman is an uneducated person, you say?
I must admit she cannot spell even her own name, said Mr. Havisham.
She cares only for the money.
The Earl smiled bitterly.
And I, he said, I hated the other woman, the mother of this child.
I refuse to know her, and yet she can do far more than spell her own name.
I suppose this is what I deserve.
Suddenly he sprang out of his chair and began to pace around the room.
Fierce words poured from his lips.
His rage and disappointment shook him the way a storm shakes a tree.
I should have known, he shrieked.
He asked Mr. Havisham questions about the woman, about the proof.
He kept pacing around the room.
He turned first white and then purple with anger.
When at last he learned all there was to know, he looked terrible.
If anyone had told me I could grow to be fond of a child he said his voice shaking I would not have believed them.
He bent down and stood a minute or two, looking at the happy sleeping face.
Then he turned away and rang the bell.
When the footman appeared, the earl pointed to the sofa.
Take, he said, and then his voice changed a little.
Take Lord Fauntleroy to his room.
