Chapter 1 A Great Surprise Dearest, Cedric said to his mama.
Dearest, is my papa better?
Cedric called his mama Dearest, just like his papa had.
Cedric's papa had been terribly ill, and Cedric had been sent away until he got better.
But when the boy returned, he found Dearest sitting in her chair by the window.
She was dressed in black, and her pretty face looked very sad.
Cedric went to her.
He felt her arms tremble.
There was something in her face that made his heart beat fast with worry.
Dearest, he said again quietly, is Papa well?
Suddenly he knew what to do.
He wrapped his arms around her neck, and he kissed her again and again.
She put her face on his shoulder and started sobbing.
She was holding onto him tightly, as if she would never let go.
Yes, he is well, Dearest said at last.
But we have no one left but each other.
Cedric was only a little boy, but somehow he understood.
His big, handsome papa was not coming back.
He was dead.
A few years passed.
Dearest cried whenever he asked about his papa, so Cedric secretly decided not to talk about him.
He remembered a few things about his papa.
His name was Captain Cedric Errol.
He was very tall and had blue eyes and a mustache.
Cedric remembered how wonderful it felt when his papa carried him around on his shoulders.
That's what Cedric remembered most.
He also knew that his papa was not from New York, where he and Dearest lived.
His papa was from England.
Cedric thought that was why his papa's family never visited.
They were too far away.
His mama's family never visited either, but that was because she had no family.
She was an orphan.
Before Dearest married his papa, she had worked for a rich old lady who was not kind to her.
One day Captain Errol was visiting the old lady's house and noticed Cedric's mama running up the stairs.
From that moment on, the captain couldn't stop thinking about her.
She looked so sweet, so innocent.
He came back to visit again and again.
He fell in love with her, and soon, quicker than anyone could have guessed they were planning to get married.
This marriage made some people very unhappy. even angry.
The captain's father was especially upset.
He was the Earl of Dorincourt, a rich and important nobleman who lived in a fine, beautiful castle.
He was known for having a terrible temper.
He also hated America and Americans.
The Earl had two sons who were older than Captain Cedric.
The oldest son was a lord.
He would one day become the Earl Earl died.
If the first son died, the second son would become the Earl's heir.
As for the third son, he would only become a lord if both of his brothers died.
More than likely, he would never be the Earl of Dorincourt.
He would never even be very rich, since most of the family fortune would go to his older brothers.
Captain Cedric knew this, but it didn't matter to him.
He was a kind young man, and very handsome.
He was also brave and generous.'
Everyone loved him.
His older brothers were not handsome or kind or smart.
They wasted their time and money and had very few real friends.
The earl's two older sons were a disappointment.
They embarrassed him.
His heirs were not an honor to his noble name.
The earl thought it was the worst of luck that his third son had all the gifts.
The beauty and the charm, the smarts.
These should have gone to the son, who would one day become Earl of Dorincourt.
On his third son, these qualities were wasted.
The Earl hated comparing his third son to the older brothers.
His presence was a constant reminder of their failures, and so the Earl sent his third son far away to America.
That way, the old Earl wouldn't have to see him and be reminded of his other son's faults.
Six months passed, and the Earl became lonely.
He didn't say it out loud, but he missed his youngest son.
He wrote Captain Cedric a letter and asked him to come home.
At the same time, Captain Cedric wrote his father a letter.
He told him of the sweet, pretty American girl he wanted to marry.
He asked his father for his blessing, but he didn't get it.
When the Earl received the letter, he was furious.
For a whole hour, he raged around his castle like a tiger.
Then he sat down and wrote a nasty response.
Captain Sidrick was never to come home again.
He was not to write his father or his brothers.
He could live however he wanted.
He could die wherever he wanted.
He would be cut off from his family forever and he would never get help from his father for as long as he lived.
The captain was heartbroken.
At first he didn't know what to do.
He had no work experience, but he did have courage, and he wouldn't give up.
He soon found a job in New York and married the girl he loved.
His new life was very difficult, from the one he had known in England, but he was young and full of hope.
He rented a small, humble house on a quiet street.
It was a happy home.
It was where he lived with his new wife and where his son was born.
The captain was never once sorry for what he did.
His little boy, Cedric, was sweet and charming.
He had curly golden hair and big brown eyes with impossibly long eyelashes.
He was very handsome.
The boy was also friendly and well-mannered.
When he was out on the street, he smiled at strangers and looked them straight in the eye.
He talked to everyone, asking after their business, their health, and their family.
People found him to be quite amusing.
His great friend was the grocery man on the corner, Mr Hobbs, who was known as the grumpiest man around.
But Cedric could make even Mr. Hobbs smile.
Cedric had a kind heart and was quick to understand other people's feelings.
This may have been because he never heard a mean word at home.
He had always been loved and treated tenderly.
He had always heard his mama called by pretty loving names, and so he used them himself when he spoke to her.
And he had always seen his papa watch over his mama, so he made sure to take good care of her, too.
So when Sidrick learned that his papa wasn't coming back and he saw how sad Dearest was, he knew that he needed to make her happy.
He climbed up on her knees, kissed her, and put his head on her shoulder.
He brought her toys and picture books to show her.
When she lay down on the sofa.
He curled up quietly at her side until she woke up and talked with him again.
He was a greater comfort to her than he realized.
Oh, Mary.
He heard her say once to her faithful housekeeper and maid, I know he's trying to help me.
He looks at me sometimes with this curious little look, as if he knows how my heart feels, as if he is sorry for me.
Then he shows me something to put my mind on other things.
He's such a little man already.
Cedric always acted older than his years.
He learned to read when he was very little.
He would lie on the rug in the evenings and read aloud, sometimes stories and other times big books that grown-ups would read.
Sometimes he even read the newspaper.
Cedric didn't know what all the big words meant, but he sounded them out and asked for help with the stranger spellings.
He was especially interested in politics.
Dearest and Mary would laugh in delight at the funny things he would say.
Mary was fond of Cedric.
She had been helping his mother ever since he was born.
She was proud of how graceful he was and of his fine manners.
She especially adored his bright curly hair, which fell just past his ears.
Mary liked to sew him small suits that made him look like a tiny gentleman.
You look like a young lord. she would tell him, and Cedric would laugh and be a little confused.
He didn't think he looked like a young lord.
He didn't even know what a lord was.
Cedric thought Mr. Hobbs was a very rich and powerful person like a lord, he supposed.
Mr Hobbs had so many things in his store prunes and figs and oranges and biscuits, and he had a horse and a wagon.
Cedric was fond of the milkman and the baker and the shoeshine boy and the apple woman who worked near the park, but he liked Mr Hobbs the best.
He would visit the grocery store every day and pull up a stool to talk to Mr. Hobbs.
And they would talk for hours the grumpy grocery man and the sweet seven-year-old boy who had lost his father.
It was quite surprising how many things Cedric and Mr. Hobbs found to talk about.
Fourth of July, for instance, they could talk about the American Day of Independence for a long time.
Mr. Hobbs had a very bad opinion of the British.
He said that they were great villains.
What he liked were the patriotic heroes of America.
He would even recite parts of the Declaration of Independence, and Cedric would get so excited that his heart would beat fast when he listened.
One day when Cedric was visiting Mr. Hobbs, a very odd thing happened.
They were talking about England and the Queen.
Mr. Hobbs said that he did not like the English royalty.
He did not like earls or dukes, and he was being very stubborn about it.
Did you ever know any dukes, Mr. Hobbs?
Cedric asked.
Or earls?
In fact, I did not, said Mr. Hobbs, but I don't like them.
Maybe they wouldn't be earls if they knew any better, said Sidrick, starting to feel bad for the earls and the dukes.
Wouldn't they, said Mr. Hobbs.
They just love it.
It's all they want.
They're a bad lot.
Sidrick and Mr. Hobbs were in the middle of this conversation when Mary appeared.
Cedric thought maybe she had come by to buy some sugar, but she said that wasn't it.
Her eyes were shining, like she was excited about something.
Come home, darling, she said to Cedric.
The mistress is wanting you.
Cedric slipped down from his stool.
Goodbye, Mr. Hobbs, he said.
We'll talk more about the earls and dukes tomorrow.
Mary was staring at him, shaking her head.
What's the matter, Mary?
Has the sun given dearest a headache?
Cedric asked anxiously.
But Mary said it was not that.
Cedric rushed home with her, feeling nervous.
When they reached the house, there was a fancy carriage outside.
Someone was in the little parlor talking to dearest.
Mary wouldn't let Cedric go into the parlor just yet.
Instead, she hurried him upstairs to put on his best summer suit, the cream-colored one with a red belt.
She told him to find his best shoes, too.
When he was dressed at last, he ran down into the parlor.
The visitor was a tall, thin, old gentleman with a sharp, serious face.
He was sitting in an armchair.
Dearest was standing nearby with a pale face.
There were tears in her eyes.
Oh, Cedric, she cried.
She ran to him and held him in her arms.
The tall old gentleman rose from his chair and looked deeply at Cedric for a long while.
He didn't seem displeased.
And so, he finally said, this is little Lord Fauntleroy.
