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06 - Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett · Little Lord Fauntleroy

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Speaker 1: Chapter six. When Lord Fauntleroy wakened in the morning, he
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Speaker 1: had not wakened at all when he had been carried
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Speaker 1: to bed the night before. The first sounds he was
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Speaker 1: conscious of were the crackling of a wood fire and
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Speaker 1: the murmur of voices. You will be careful, Dawson, not
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Speaker 1: to say anything about it. He heard some one say
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Speaker 1: he does not know why she is not to be
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Speaker 1: with him, and the reason is to be kept from him.
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Speaker 1: If them's his lordship's order, mi'am. Another voice answered, they'll
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Speaker 1: have to be kept, I suppose. But if you'll excuse
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Speaker 1: the liberty, ma'am, as it's between ourselves, servant or no servant,
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Speaker 1: all I have to say is it's a cruel thing
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Speaker 1: parting that poor, pretty, young, wided creature from her own
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Speaker 1: flesh and blood, and him such a little beauty and
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Speaker 1: a nobleman born James and Thomas, ma'am. Last night in
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Speaker 1: the servants hall, they both of them say, as they
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Speaker 1: never seen anything in their two lives, nor yet no
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Speaker 1: other gentleman in livery like that little fellow's ways, as
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Speaker 1: innocent and polite and interested, as if he'd been sitting
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Speaker 1: there dining with his best friend, and the temper of
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Speaker 1: an angel instead of one, if you'll excuse me, mim,
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Speaker 1: as it's well known, is enough to curdle your blood
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Speaker 1: in your veins at times. And as to looks mem
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Speaker 1: when we was wrong for James and me to go
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Speaker 1: into the library and bring him upstairs, and James lifted
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Speaker 1: him up in his arms, what with his little innocent
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Speaker 1: face all red and rosy, and his little head on
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Speaker 1: James's shoulder, and his hair hanging down, all curly and shining,
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Speaker 1: a prettier taken her sight you'd never wished to see.
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Speaker 1: And it's my opinion my Lord wasn't blind to it neither,
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Speaker 1: for he looked at him, and he says to James,
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Speaker 1: see you don't wake him, he says, Cedric moved on
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Speaker 1: his pillow and turned over, opening his eyes. There were
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Speaker 1: two women in the room. Everything was bright and cheerful,
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Speaker 1: with gay flowered chintz. There was a fire on the hearth,
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Speaker 1: and the sunshine was streaming in through the ivy entwined windows.
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Speaker 1: Both women came toward him, and he saw that one
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Speaker 1: of them was missus Melan, the housekeeper, and the other
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Speaker 1: a comfortable, middle aged woman with a face as kind
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Speaker 1: and good humored as a face could be. Good morning,
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Speaker 1: my Lord, said, missus Melan. Did you sleep well? His
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Speaker 1: lordship rubbed his eyes and smiled. Good morning, he said,
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Speaker 1: I didn't know I was here. You were carried upstairs
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Speaker 1: when you were asleep, said the housekeeper. This is your bedroom,
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Speaker 1: and this is Dawson, who is to take care of you.
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Speaker 1: Fauntleroy sat up in bed and held out his hand
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Speaker 1: to Dawson as he had held it out to the Earl.
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Speaker 1: How do you do, ma'am, he said, I'm much obliged
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Speaker 1: to you for coming to take care of me. You
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Speaker 1: can call her Dawson, my lord, said the housekeeper, with
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Speaker 1: a smile. She is used to being called Dawson, Miss
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Speaker 1: Dawson or missus Dawson inquired his lordship. Just Dawson, my Lord,
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Speaker 1: said Dawson herself, beaming all over. Neither miss nor missus,
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Speaker 1: bless your little heart. Will you get up now and
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Speaker 1: let Dawson dress you and then have your breakfast in
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Speaker 1: the nursery. I learned to dress myself many years ago,
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Speaker 1: thank you, answered Fauntleroy. Dearest taught me. Dearest is my mamma.
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Speaker 1: We had only Mary to do all the work, washing
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Speaker 1: and all, and so of course it wouldn't do to
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Speaker 1: give her so much trouble. I could take my bath
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Speaker 1: too pretty well, if you'd just be kind enough to
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Speaker 1: examine the corners after I'm done. Dawson and the housekeeper
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Speaker 1: exchanged glances. Dawson will do anything you ask her to,
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Speaker 1: said missus Mellan. That I will bless him, said Dawson
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Speaker 1: in her comforting, good humored voice. He shall dress himself
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Speaker 1: if he likes, and I'll stand by ready to help
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Speaker 1: him if he wants me. Thank you, responded Lord Fauntleroy.
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Speaker 1: It's a little hard sometimes about the buttons, you know,
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Speaker 1: and then I have to ask somebody. He thought Dawson
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Speaker 1: a very kind woman, and before the bath and the
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Speaker 1: dressing were finished, they were excellent friends, and he had
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Speaker 1: found out a great deal about her. He had discovered
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Speaker 1: that her husband had been a soldier and had been
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Speaker 1: killed in a real battle, and that her son was
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Speaker 1: a sailor and was away on a long cruise, and
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Speaker 1: that he had seen pirates and cannibals and Chinese people
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Speaker 1: and Turks, and that he had brought home strange shells
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Speaker 1: and pieces of coral, which Dawson was ready to show
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Speaker 1: at any moment, some of them being in her trunk.
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Speaker 1: All this was very interesting. He also found out that
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Speaker 1: she had taken care of little children all her life,
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Speaker 1: and that she had just come from a great house
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Speaker 1: in another part of England where she had been taking
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Speaker 1: care of a beautiful little girl whose name was Lady
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Speaker 1: Gwyneth Vaughn. And she is a sort of relation of
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Speaker 1: your lordships, said Dawson, And perhaps some time you may
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Speaker 1: see her. Do you think I shall, said Mountleroy. I
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Speaker 1: should like that. I never knew any little girls, but
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Speaker 1: I always like to look at them. When he went
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Speaker 1: into the adjoining room to take his breakfast and saw
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Speaker 1: what a great room it was, and found there was
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Speaker 1: another adjoining it, which Dawson told him was his. Also,
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Speaker 1: the feeling that he was very small indeed came over
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Speaker 1: him again so strongly that he confided it to Dawson
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Speaker 1: as he sat down to the table on which the
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Speaker 1: pretty breakfast service was arranged. I am a very little boy,
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Speaker 1: he said, rather wistfully, to live in such a large
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Speaker 1: castle and have so many big rooms. Don't you think so? Oh, come,
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Speaker 1: said Dawson. You feel just a little strange at first,
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Speaker 1: that's all. But you'll get over that very soon, and
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Speaker 1: then you'll like it here. It's such a beautiful place,
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Speaker 1: you know. It's a very beautiful place, of course, said
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Speaker 1: Fauntleroy with a little sigh. But I should like it
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Speaker 1: better if I didn't miss dearest. So I always had
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Speaker 1: my breakfast with her in the morning, and put the
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Speaker 1: sugar and cream in her tea for her and handed
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Speaker 1: her the toast. That made it very sociable, of course,
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Speaker 1: Oh well, answered Dawson comfortingly. You know you can see
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Speaker 1: her every day, and there's no knowing how much you'll
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Speaker 1: have to tell her. Bless you wait till you've walked
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Speaker 1: about a bit and seen things, the dogs and the
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Speaker 1: stables with all the horses in them. There's one of
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Speaker 1: them I know you'll like to see, is there, exclaimed Fauntleroy.
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Speaker 1: I'm very fond of horses. I was very fond of Jim.
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Speaker 1: He was the horse that belonged to mister Hobbs's grocery wagon.
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Speaker 1: He was a beautiful horse when he wasn't balky, Well,
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Speaker 1: said Dawson. You just wait till you've seen what's in
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Speaker 1: the stables, And deary me, you haven't looked even into
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Speaker 1: the very next room. Yet what is there, asked thount Leroy.
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Speaker 1: Wait until you've had your breakfast, and then you shall see,
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Speaker 1: said Dawson. At this he naturally began to grow curious,
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Speaker 1: and he applied himself assiduously to his breakfast. It seemed
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Speaker 1: to him that there must be something worth looking at
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Speaker 1: in the next room. Dawson had such a consequential, mysterious
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Speaker 1: air now, then, he said, slipping off his seat. A
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Speaker 1: few minutes later, I've had enough. Can I go and
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Speaker 1: look at it? Dawson nodded and led the way, looking
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Speaker 1: more mysterious and important than ever. He began to be
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Speaker 1: very much interested. Indeed, when she opened the door of
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Speaker 1: the room, he stood upon the threshold and looked about
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Speaker 1: him in amazement. He did not speak, He only put
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Speaker 1: his hands in his pockets and stood there, flushing up
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Speaker 1: to his forek and looking in. He flushed up because
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Speaker 1: he was so surprised, and for the moment excited to
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Speaker 1: see such a place was enough to surprise any ordinary boy.
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Speaker 1: The room was a large one, too, as all the
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Speaker 1: room seemed to be, and it appeared to him more
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Speaker 1: beautiful than the rest, only in a different way. The
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Speaker 1: furniture was not so massive and antique as was that
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Speaker 1: in the rooms he had seen downstairs. The draperies and
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Speaker 1: rugs and walls were brighter. There were shelves full of books,
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Speaker 1: and on the tables were numbers of toys, beautiful and
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Speaker 1: genious things such as he had looked at with wonder
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Speaker 1: and delight through the shop windows in New York. It
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Speaker 1: looks like a boy's room, he said, at last, catching
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Speaker 1: his breath. A little whom do they belong to? Go
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Speaker 1: and look at them, said Dawson. They belonged to you,
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Speaker 1: to me, he cried to me, Why do they belong
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Speaker 1: to me? Who gave them to me? And he sprang
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Speaker 1: forward with a gay little shout. It seemed almost too
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Speaker 1: much to be believed. It was Grandpapa, he said, with
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Speaker 1: his eyes as bright as stars. I know it was Grandpapa. Yes,
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Speaker 1: it was his lordship, said Dawson. And if you will
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Speaker 1: be a nice little gentleman and not fret about things,
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Speaker 1: and will enjoy yourself and be happy all the day,
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Speaker 1: he will give you anything you ask for. It was
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Speaker 1: a tremendously exciting morning. There were so many things to
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Speaker 1: be examined, so many experiments, to be tried. Each novelty
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Speaker 1: was so absorbing that he could scarcely turn from it
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Speaker 1: to look at the next. And it was so curious
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Speaker 1: to know all this had been prepared for himself alone,
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Speaker 1: that even before he had left New York, people had
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Speaker 1: come down from London to arrange the rooms he was
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Speaker 1: to occupy, and had provided the books and play things
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Speaker 1: most likely to interest him. Did you ever know any one,
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Speaker 1: he said to Dawson, who had such a kind grandfather.
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Speaker 1: Dawson's face wore an uncertain expression for a moment. She
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Speaker 1: had not a very high opinion of his lordship, the Earl.
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Speaker 1: She had not been in the house many days, but
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Speaker 1: she had been there long enough to hear the old
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Speaker 1: nobleman's peculiarities discussed very freely in the servants hall. And
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Speaker 1: of all the wishes savage, he'll tempered, old fellows, it
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Speaker 1: was ever my hill luck to wear livery under. The
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Speaker 1: tallest footman had said, he's the wiolentest, and wo'st my
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Speaker 1: along shot. And this particular footman, whose name was Thomas,
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Speaker 1: had also repeated to his companions below stairs some of
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Speaker 1: the Earl's remarks to mister Havisham when they had been
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Speaker 1: discussing these very preparations. Give him his own way, and
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Speaker 1: fill his room with toys, my lord had said. Give
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Speaker 1: him what will amuse him, and he'll forget about his
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Speaker 1: mother quickly enough. Amuse him and fill his mind with
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Speaker 1: other things, and we shall have no trouble. That's boy nature.
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Speaker 1: So perhaps, having had this truly amiable object in view,
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Speaker 1: it did not please him so very much to find
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Speaker 1: it did not seem to be exactly this particular boy's nature.
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Speaker 1: The Earl had passed a bad night and had spent
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Speaker 1: the morning in his room, But at noon, after he
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Speaker 1: had lunched, he sent for his grandson. Fauntleroy answered the
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Speaker 1: summons at once. He came down the broad staircase with
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Speaker 1: a bounding step. The Earl heard him run across the hall,
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Speaker 1: and then the door opened, and he came in with
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Speaker 1: red cheeks and sparkling eyes. I was waiting for you
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Speaker 1: to send for me, he said, I was ready a
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Speaker 1: long time ago. I'm ever so much obliged to you
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Speaker 1: for all those things. I'm ever so much obliged to you.
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Speaker 1: I have been playing with them all the morning, Oh,
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Speaker 1: said the Earl. You like them, do you? I like
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Speaker 1: them so much. Well, I couldn't tell you how much,
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Speaker 1: said Fauntleroy, his face glowing with delight. There's one that's
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Speaker 1: like baseball, only you play it on a board with
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Speaker 1: black and white pegs, and you keep your score with
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Speaker 1: some counters on a wire. I tried to teach Dawson,
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Speaker 1: but she couldn't quite understand it just at first. You see,
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Speaker 1: she never played baseball, being a lady, and I'm afraid
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Speaker 1: I wasn't very good at explaining it to her. But
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Speaker 1: you know all about it, don't you. I'm afraid I don't,
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Speaker 1: replied the earl. It's an American game, isn't it. Is
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Speaker 1: it something like cricket. I never saw cricket, said Fauntleroy,
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Speaker 1: But mister Hobbs took me several times to see baseball.
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Speaker 1: It's a splendid game. You get so excited. Would you
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Speaker 1: like me to go and get my game and show
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Speaker 1: it to you? Perhaps it would amuse you and make
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Speaker 1: you forget about your foot? Does your foot hurt you
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Speaker 1: very much this morning? More than I enjoy? Was the answer.
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Speaker 1: Then perhaps you couldn't for get it, said the little fellow, anxiously.
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Speaker 1: Perhaps it would bother you to be told about the game.
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Speaker 1: Do you think it would amuse you or do you
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Speaker 1: think it would bother you? Go and get it, said
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Speaker 1: the Earl. It was certainly a novel entertainment, this making
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Speaker 1: a companion of a child who offered to teach him
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Speaker 1: to play games. But the very novelty of it amused him.
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Speaker 1: There was a smile lurking about the Earl's mouth when
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Speaker 1: Cedric came back, with the box containing the game in
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Speaker 1: his arms and an expression of the most eager interest
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Speaker 1: on his face. May I pull that little table over
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Speaker 1: here to your chair, he asked, ring for Thomas, said
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Speaker 1: the Earl. He will place it for you. Oh, I
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Speaker 1: can do it myself, answered Fauntleroy. It's not very heavy.
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Speaker 1: Very well, replied his grandfather. The lurking smile deepened on
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Speaker 1: the old man's face as he watched the little fellow's preparations.
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Speaker 1: There was such an absorbed interest in them. The small
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Speaker 1: table was dragged forward in place by his chair, and
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Speaker 1: the game taken from its box and arranged upon it.
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Speaker 1: It's very interesting once you begin, said Fauntleroy. You see
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Speaker 1: the black pegs can be your side and the white
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Speaker 1: one's mind. They're men you know, and once round the
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Speaker 1: field is a home run and counts one, and these
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Speaker 1: are outs, and here is the first base, and that's
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Speaker 1: the second, and that's the third, and that's the home base.
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Speaker 1: He entered into the details of explanation with the greatest animation.
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Speaker 1: He showed all the attitudes of pitcher and catcher and
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Speaker 1: batter in the real game, and gave a dramatic description
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Speaker 1: of a wonderful hot ball he had seen caught on
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Speaker 1: the glorious occasion on which he had witnessed a match
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Speaker 1: in company with mister Hobbs. His vigorous, graceful little body,
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Speaker 1: his eager gestures, his simple enjoyment of it all were
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Speaker 1: pleasant to behold. When at last the explanations and illustrations
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Speaker 1: were at an end and the game began in good earnest,
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Speaker 1: the Earl still found himself entertained. His young companion was
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Speaker 1: wholly absorbed. He played with all his childish heart, his
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Speaker 1: gay little lass when he made a good throw, his
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Speaker 1: enthusiasm over a home run, his impartial delight over his
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Speaker 1: own good luck, and his opponents would have given a
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Speaker 1: flavor to any game. If a week before any one
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Speaker 1: had told the Earl of Dorincourt, that on that particular
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Speaker 1: morning he would be forgetting his gout and his bad
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Speaker 1: temper in a child's game played with black and white
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Speaker 1: wooden pegs on a gaily painted board, with a curly
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Speaker 1: headed small boy for a companion, He would without doubt
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Speaker 1: have made himself very unpleasant. And yet he certainly had
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Speaker 1: forgotten himself when the door opened and Thomas announced a visitor.
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Speaker 1: The visitor in question, who was an elderly gentleman in
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Speaker 1: black and no less a person than the clergyman of
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Speaker 1: the parish, was so startled by the amazing scene which
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Speaker 1: met his eye that he almost fell back a pace
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Speaker 1: and ran some risk of colliding with Thomas. There was,
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Speaker 1: in fact, no part of his duty that the Reverend
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Speaker 1: mister Mordunt found so decidedly unpleasant as that part which
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Speaker 1: compelled him to call upon his noble patron at the castle.
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Speaker 1: His noble patron indeed usually made these visits as disagreeable
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Speaker 1: as it lay in his lordly power to make them.
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Speaker 1: He abhorred churches and charities, and flew into violent rages
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Speaker 1: when any of his tenantry took the liberty of being
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Speaker 1: poor and ill and needing assistance. When his gout was
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Speaker 1: at its worst, he did not hesitate to announce that
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Speaker 1: he would not be bored and irritated by being told
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Speaker 1: stories of their miserable misfortunes. When his gout troubled him less,
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Speaker 1: and he was in a somewhat more humane frame of mind,
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Speaker 1: he would perhaps give the Rector some money after having
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Speaker 1: bullied him in the most painful manner, and be rated
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Speaker 1: the whole parish for its shiftlessness and imbecility. But whatsoever
16:53
Speaker 1: his mood, he never failed to make as many sarcastic
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Speaker 1: and embarrassing speeches as possible, and to cause the Reverend
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Speaker 1: and mister Mordant to wish it were proper and christian
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Speaker 1: like to throw something heavy at him. During all the
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Speaker 1: years in which mister Morton had been in charge of
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Speaker 1: Dorincourt Parish, the Rector certainly did not remember having seen
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Speaker 1: his lordship of his own free will do any one
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Speaker 1: a kindness, or, under any circumstances whatever, show that he
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Speaker 1: thought of any one but himself. He had called to
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Speaker 1: day to speak to him of a specially pressing case,
17:27
Speaker 1: And as he had walked up the avenue, he had
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Speaker 1: for two reasons dreaded his visit more than usual. In
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Speaker 1: the first place, he knew that his lordship had for
17:35
Speaker 1: several days been suffering with the gout, and had been
17:38
Speaker 1: in so villainous a humor that rumors of it had
17:41
Speaker 1: even reached the village, carried there by one of the
17:44
Speaker 1: young women's servants to her sister, who kept the little
17:47
Speaker 1: shop in retailed darning needles and cotton and peppermints and
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Speaker 1: gossip as a means of earning an honest living. What
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Speaker 1: Missus Dibble did not know about the castle and its inmates,
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Speaker 1: and the farm houses and their inmates, and the village
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Speaker 1: at its population was really not worth being talked about.
18:06
Speaker 1: And of course she knew everything about the castle because
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Speaker 1: her sister, Jane Shortz, was one of the upper housemaids
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Speaker 1: and was very friendly and intimate with Thomas. And the
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Speaker 1: way his lordship do go on, said Missus Dibble over
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Speaker 1: the counter, and the way he do use language. Mister
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Speaker 1: Thomas told Jane herself no flesh and blood, as is
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Speaker 1: in livery, could stand for throw a plate of toast
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Speaker 1: at mister Thomas his self. He did not more than
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Speaker 1: two days since, and if it weren't for other things
18:37
Speaker 1: being agreeable and the society below stairs, most genteel warning
18:41
Speaker 1: would have been gave within an hour, and the rector
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Speaker 1: had heard all this for somehow, the Earl was a
18:49
Speaker 1: favorite black sheep in the cottages and farm houses, and
18:53
Speaker 1: his bad behavior gave many a good woman something to
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Speaker 1: talk about when she had company to tea. And the
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Speaker 1: second reason was even worse, because it was a new
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Speaker 1: one and had been talked about with the most excited interest.
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Speaker 1: Who did not know of the old nobleman's fury when
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Speaker 1: his handsome son, the Captain, had married the American lady.
19:15
Speaker 1: Who did not know how cruelly he had treated the captain,
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Speaker 1: and how the big, gay, sweet, smiling young man, who
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Speaker 1: was the only member of the grand family any one liked,
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Speaker 1: had died in a foreign land, poor and unforgiven. Who
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Speaker 1: did not know how fiercely his lordship had hated the
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Speaker 1: poor young creature who had been his son's wife, and
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Speaker 1: how he had hated the thought of her child, and
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Speaker 1: never meant to see the boy until his two sons
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Speaker 1: died had left him without an air, And then who
19:44
Speaker 1: did not know that he had looked forward, without any
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Speaker 1: affection or pleasure, to his grandson's coming, and that he
19:49
Speaker 1: had made up his mind that he should find the boy,
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Speaker 1: a vulgar, awkward, pert American lad, more likely to disgrace
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Speaker 1: his noble name than to honor it. The pre angry
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Speaker 1: old man thought he had kept all his thoughts secret.
20:04
Speaker 1: He did not suppose anyone dared to guess at much
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Speaker 1: less talk over what he felt and dreaded. But his
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Speaker 1: servants watched him and read his face and his ill
20:14
Speaker 1: humors and fits of gloom, and discussed them in the
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Speaker 1: servants hall. And while he thought himself quite secure from
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Speaker 1: the common herd, Thomas was telling Jane and the cook,
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Speaker 1: and the butler, and the housemaids and the other footmen
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Speaker 1: that it was his opinion that the old man was
20:30
Speaker 1: worse than usual. A thinking over the captain's boy and anticipating,
20:34
Speaker 1: as he won't be no credit to the family and
20:37
Speaker 1: serve him right, added Thomas, it's his own fault. What
20:42
Speaker 1: can he expect from a child brought up in poor
20:44
Speaker 1: circumstances in that they're low America. And as the reverend
20:51
Speaker 1: mister Morton walked under the great trees, he remembered that
20:54
Speaker 1: this questionable little boy had arrived at the castle only
20:57
Speaker 1: the evening before, and that there were nine chances to
21:01
Speaker 1: one that his lordship's worst fears were realized, and twenty
21:05
Speaker 1: two chances to one that if the poor little fellow
21:07
Speaker 1: had disappointed him. The Earl was even now in a
21:10
Speaker 1: tearing rage and ready to vent all his rancor on
21:13
Speaker 1: the first person who called, which it appeared probable would
21:16
Speaker 1: be his reverend self. Judge then of his amazement. When
21:22
Speaker 1: as Thomas opened the library door, his ears were greeted
21:25
Speaker 1: by a delighted ring of childish laughter. That's too out,
21:29
Speaker 1: shouted an excited, clear little voice. You see, it's too out.
21:36
Speaker 1: And there was the Earl's chair and the goutstool and
21:38
Speaker 1: his foot on it, and by him a small table
21:42
Speaker 1: and a game on it, and quite close to him,
21:45
Speaker 1: actually leaning against his arm and his ungouty knee, was
21:48
Speaker 1: a little boy with face glowing and eyes dancing with excitement.
21:53
Speaker 1: It's too out, the little stranger cried. You hadn't any
21:58
Speaker 1: luck that time, had you? And then they both recognized
22:01
Speaker 1: at once that some one had come in. The Earl
22:05
Speaker 1: glanced around, knitting his shaggy eyebrows, as he had a
22:08
Speaker 1: trick of doing, and when he saw who it was,
22:11
Speaker 1: mister Morton was still more surprised to see that he
22:13
Speaker 1: looked even less disagreeable than usual, instead of more so.
22:18
Speaker 1: In fact, he looked almost as if he had forgotten
22:21
Speaker 1: for the moment how disagreeable he was, and how unpleasant
22:24
Speaker 1: he really could make himself when he tried. Ah, he said,
22:29
Speaker 1: in his harsh voice, but giving his hand rather graciously.
22:33
Speaker 1: Good morning, Mordant. I've found a new employment, you see.
22:38
Speaker 1: He put his other hand on Cedric's shoulder. Perhaps deep
22:41
Speaker 1: down in his heart there was a stir of gratified
22:44
Speaker 1: pride that it was such an air he had to present.
22:48
Speaker 1: There was a spark of something like pleasure in his
22:50
Speaker 1: eyes as he moved the boy slightly forward. This is
22:54
Speaker 1: the new Lord Fauntleroy, he said, Fauntleroy, This is mister Mordant,
22:59
Speaker 1: the rector of the parish. Fauntleroy looked up at the
23:03
Speaker 1: gentleman in the clerical garments and gave him his hand.
23:07
Speaker 1: I am very glad to make your acquaintance, sir, he said,
23:10
Speaker 1: remembering the words he had heard mister Hobbs used on
23:13
Speaker 1: one or two occasions when he had been greeting a
23:15
Speaker 1: new customer with ceremony. Cedric felt quite sure that one
23:19
Speaker 1: ought to be more than usually polite to a minister.
23:24
Speaker 1: Mister Mordan held the small hand in his a moment
23:26
Speaker 1: as he looked down at the child's face, smiling involuntarily.
23:31
Speaker 1: He liked the little fellow from that instant, as in
23:34
Speaker 1: fact people always did like him. And it was not
23:37
Speaker 1: the boy's beauty and grace which most appealed to him.
23:40
Speaker 1: It was the simple, natural kindliness in the little lad
23:44
Speaker 1: which made any words he uttered, however quaint and unexpected,
23:47
Speaker 1: sound pleasant and sincere. As the Rector looked at Cedric,
23:52
Speaker 1: he forgot to think of the earl at all. Nothing
23:55
Speaker 1: in the world is so strong as a kind heart,
23:58
Speaker 1: And somehow this kind little heart, though it was only
24:01
Speaker 1: the heart of a child, seemed to clear all the
24:03
Speaker 1: atmosphere of the big, gloomy room and make it brighter.
24:07
Speaker 1: I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Lord Fauntleroy, said
24:11
Speaker 1: the Rector. You made a long journey to come to us.
24:15
Speaker 1: A great many people will be glad to know you
24:17
Speaker 1: made it safely. It was a long way, answered Fauntleroy,
24:22
Speaker 1: But dearest, my mother was with me, and I wasn't lonely.
24:26
Speaker 1: Of course, you are never lonely. If your mother is
24:29
Speaker 1: with you, and the ship was beautiful. Take a chair, Mordon,
24:34
Speaker 1: said the Earl. Mister Morton sat down. He glanced from
24:38
Speaker 1: Fauntleroy to the Earl. Your lordship is greatly to be congratulated,
24:43
Speaker 1: he said warmly. But the Earl plainly had no intention
24:47
Speaker 1: of showing his feelings on the subject. He is like
24:50
Speaker 1: his father, he said, rather gruffly. Let us hope he'll
24:54
Speaker 1: conduct himself more creditably, and then he added, well, what
24:59
Speaker 1: is it this morning? Who is in trouble? Now? This
25:04
Speaker 1: was not as bad as mister Mordant had expected, but
25:07
Speaker 1: he hesitated a second before he began. It is Higgins,
25:12
Speaker 1: he said, Higgins of Edge Farm. He has been very unfortunate.
25:17
Speaker 1: He was ill himself last autumn, and his children had
25:20
Speaker 1: scarlet fever. I can't say that he is a very
25:23
Speaker 1: good manager, but he has had ill luck, and of
25:26
Speaker 1: course he is behindhand in many ways. He is in
25:30
Speaker 1: trouble about his rent, now knew. It tells him if
25:33
Speaker 1: he doesn't pay it, he must leave the place, and
25:36
Speaker 1: of course that would be a very serious matter. His
25:40
Speaker 1: wife is ill, and he came to me yesterday to
25:42
Speaker 1: beg me to see about it and ask you for time.
25:46
Speaker 1: He thinks if you would give him time, he could
25:48
Speaker 1: catch up again. They all think that, said the Earl,
25:52
Speaker 1: Looking rather black, Fauntleroy made a movement forward. He had
25:57
Speaker 1: been standing between his grandfather and the visitor, listening with
26:01
Speaker 1: all his might. He had begun to be interested in
26:04
Speaker 1: Higgins at once. He wondered how many children there were,
26:07
Speaker 1: and if the scarlet fever had hurt them very much.
26:11
Speaker 1: His eyes were wide open and were fixed upon mister
26:13
Speaker 1: Mordant with intent interest as that gentleman went on with
26:17
Speaker 1: the conversation. Higgins is a well meaning man, said the Rector,
26:22
Speaker 1: making an effort to strengthen his plea. He is a
26:25
Speaker 1: bad enough tenant, replied his lordship, and he is always
26:29
Speaker 1: behindhand knew it tells me he is in great trouble now,
26:34
Speaker 1: said the Rector. He is very fond of his wife
26:37
Speaker 1: and children, and if the farm is taken away from him,
26:40
Speaker 1: they may literally starve. He cannot give them the nourishing
26:43
Speaker 1: things they need. Two of the children were left very
26:47
Speaker 1: low after the fever, and the doctor orders for them
26:49
Speaker 1: wine and luxuries that Higgins cannot afford. At this Fauntleroy
26:55
Speaker 1: moved a step nearer. That was the way with Michael,
26:58
Speaker 1: he said. The Earl slightly started. I forgot you, he said,
27:04
Speaker 1: I forgot We had a philanthropist in the room who
27:07
Speaker 1: was Michael, And the gleam of queer amusement came back
27:11
Speaker 1: into the old man's deep set eyes. He was Bridget's
27:15
Speaker 1: husband who had the fever, answered Fauntleroy. And he couldn't
27:18
Speaker 1: pay the rent or buy wine and things, and you
27:22
Speaker 1: gave me that money to help him. The Earl drew
27:26
Speaker 1: his brows together in a curious frown, which somehow was
27:29
Speaker 1: scarcely grim at all. He glanced across at mister Mordant.
27:34
Speaker 1: I don't know what sort of landed proprietor he will make,
27:38
Speaker 1: he said. I told Havisham the boy was to have
27:41
Speaker 1: what he wanted, anything he wanted, and what he wanted,
27:44
Speaker 1: it seems, was money to give to beggars. Oh but
27:48
Speaker 1: they weren't beggars, said Fauntleroy eagerly. Michael was a splendid bricklayer.
27:54
Speaker 1: They all worked, oh, said the Earl, They were not beggars.
27:59
Speaker 1: They re splendid bricklayers and bootblacks and apple women. He
28:05
Speaker 1: bent his gaze on the boy for a few seconds
28:07
Speaker 1: in silence. The fact was that a new thought was
28:10
Speaker 1: coming to him, and though perhaps it was not prompted
28:14
Speaker 1: by the noblest emotions, it was not a bad thought.
28:18
Speaker 1: Come here, he said. At last. Fauntleroy went and stood
28:22
Speaker 1: as near to him as possible without encroaching on the
28:25
Speaker 1: gouty foot. What would you do in this case, his
28:29
Speaker 1: lordship asked. It must be confessed that mister Mordant experienced
28:35
Speaker 1: for the moment a curious sensation. Being a man of
28:39
Speaker 1: great thoughtfulness, and having spent so many years on the
28:42
Speaker 1: estate of Dorincourt, knowing the tenantry, rich and poor, the
28:46
Speaker 1: people of the village honest and industrious, dishonest and lazy,
28:50
Speaker 1: he realized very strongly what power for good or evil
28:54
Speaker 1: would be given in the future to this one small boy,
28:56
Speaker 1: standing there, his brown eyes wide open, his hands deep
29:00
Speaker 1: in his pockets. And the thought came to him also
29:03
Speaker 1: that a great deal of power might, perhaps through the
29:06
Speaker 1: caprice of a proud, self indulgent old man, be given
29:10
Speaker 1: to him now, and that if his young nature were
29:13
Speaker 1: not a simple and generous one, it might be the
29:15
Speaker 1: worst thing that could happen, not only for others, but
29:19
Speaker 1: for himself. And what would you do in such a case?
29:23
Speaker 1: Demanded the Earl. Fauntleroy drew a little nearer and laid
29:28
Speaker 1: one hand on his knee, with the most confiding air
29:31
Speaker 1: of good comradeship. If I were very rich, he said,
29:36
Speaker 1: and not only just a little boy, I should let
29:39
Speaker 1: him stay and give him the things for his children.
29:42
Speaker 1: But then I am only a boy. Then, after a
29:46
Speaker 1: second's pause, in which his face brightened visibly, you can
29:51
Speaker 1: do anything, can't you, he said? Humph, said my lord,
29:55
Speaker 1: staring at him. That's your opinion, is it? And he
29:59
Speaker 1: was not displease either. I mean you could give any
30:03
Speaker 1: one anything, said Fauntleroy. Who's Newick? He is my agent,
30:09
Speaker 1: answered the Earl, And some of my tenants are not
30:12
Speaker 1: over fond of him. Are you going to write him
30:15
Speaker 1: a letter? Now, inquired Fauntleroy. Shall I bring you the
30:18
Speaker 1: pen and ink I can take the game off this table?
30:23
Speaker 1: It plainly had not for an instant occurred to him
30:26
Speaker 1: that Knewick would be allowed to do his worst. The
30:29
Speaker 1: Earl paused a moment, still looking at him. Can you write,
30:34
Speaker 1: he asked, Yes, answered Cedric, but not very well. Move
30:39
Speaker 1: the things from the table, commanded, my lord, and bring
30:42
Speaker 1: the pen and ink and a sheet of paper from
30:44
Speaker 1: my desk. Mister Mordan's interest began to increase. Fauntleroy did
30:51
Speaker 1: as he was told, very deathly. In a few moments,
30:54
Speaker 1: the sheet of paper, the big inkstand and the pin
30:56
Speaker 1: were ready. There he said, gaily, now you can write it.
31:02
Speaker 1: You are to write it, said the Earl, I exclaimed Fauntleroy,
31:07
Speaker 1: and a flush overspread his forehead. Will it do if
31:11
Speaker 1: I write it? I don't always spell quite right when
31:15
Speaker 1: I haven't a dictionary, and nobody tells me it will do?
31:20
Speaker 1: Answered the Earl. Higgins will not complain of the spelling.
31:24
Speaker 1: I'm not the philanthropist. You are. Dip your pen in
31:28
Speaker 1: the ink. Fauntleroy took up the pen and dipped it
31:32
Speaker 1: in the ink bottle. Then he arranged himself in position
31:34
Speaker 1: leaning on the table. Now he inquired, what must I say?
31:41
Speaker 1: You may say, Higgins is not to be interfered with
31:44
Speaker 1: for the present, and sign it, Fauntleroy, said the Earl.
31:49
Speaker 1: Fauntleroy dipped his pen in the ink again, and resting
31:52
Speaker 1: his arm, began to write. It was rather a slow
31:55
Speaker 1: and serious process, but he gave his whole soul to it.
31:59
Speaker 1: After a while, however, the manuscript was complete, and he
32:03
Speaker 1: handed it to his grandfather with a smile slightly tinged
32:06
Speaker 1: with anxiety. Do you think it will do? He asked.
32:10
Speaker 1: The Earl looked at it, and the corners of his
32:12
Speaker 1: mouth twitched a little. Yes, he answered, Higgins will find
32:17
Speaker 1: it entirely satisfactory, and he handed it to mister Mordant.
32:21
Speaker 1: What mister Morton found written was this, Dear mister Newick,
32:26
Speaker 1: if you please, mister Higgins is not to be interfered
32:31
Speaker 1: with for the present and obliged yours respectfully, Fauntleroy. Mister
32:39
Speaker 1: Hobbs always signed his letters that way, said Fauntleroy, and
32:43
Speaker 1: I thought i'd better say please. Is that exactly the
32:47
Speaker 1: right way to spell interfered? It is not exactly the
32:52
Speaker 1: way it is spelled in the dictionary, answered the Earl.
32:56
Speaker 1: I was afraid of that, said Fauntleroy. I ought to
32:59
Speaker 1: have asked you. See, that's the way with words of
33:02
Speaker 1: more than one syllable, you have to look in the dictionary.
33:06
Speaker 1: It's always safest. I'll write it over again, and write
33:10
Speaker 1: it over again, he did, making quite an imposing copy
33:14
Speaker 1: and taking precautions in the matter of spelling by consulting
33:17
Speaker 1: the Earl himself. Spelling is a curious thing, he said.
33:22
Speaker 1: It's so often different from what you expect it to be.
33:26
Speaker 1: I used to think please was spelled p l e
33:29
Speaker 1: e S, But it isn't you know. And you'd think
33:33
Speaker 1: dear was spelled d e r E if you didn't inquire.
33:38
Speaker 1: Sometimes it almost discourages you. When mister Morton went away,
33:43
Speaker 1: he took the letter with him, and he took something
33:46
Speaker 1: else with him, also, namely a pleasanter feeling, and a
33:50
Speaker 1: more hopeful one than he had ever carried home with
33:52
Speaker 1: him down that avenue on any previous visit he had
33:55
Speaker 1: made at Dorincourt Castle. When he was gone, Fauntleroy, who
34:00
Speaker 1: had accompanied him to the door, went back to his grandfather.
34:05
Speaker 1: May I go to dearest now, he asked, I think
34:08
Speaker 1: she will be waiting for me. The Earl was silent
34:12
Speaker 1: a moment. There is something in the stable for you
34:15
Speaker 1: to see first, he said. Ring the bell if you please,
34:20
Speaker 1: said Fauntleroy, with his quick little flush. I'm very much obliged,
34:24
Speaker 1: but I think i'd better see it tomorrow. She will
34:27
Speaker 1: be expecting me all the time very well, answered the Earl.
34:32
Speaker 1: We will order the carriage. Then he added, dryly, it's
34:37
Speaker 1: a pony. Fauntleroy drew a long breath. A pony, he exclaimed.
34:45
Speaker 1: Whose pony is it? Yours? Replied the Earl, Mine, cried
34:51
Speaker 1: the little fellow. Mine like the thing's upstairs? Yes, said
34:57
Speaker 1: his grandfather. Would you like to see it? Shall I
35:00
Speaker 1: order it to be brought around? Fauntleroy's cheeks grew redder
35:04
Speaker 1: and redder. I never thought I should have a pony,
35:09
Speaker 1: he said, I never thought that. How glad dearest will be?
35:14
Speaker 1: You give me everything, don't you? Do you wish to
35:19
Speaker 1: see it, inquired the Earl. Fauntleroy drew a long breath.
35:24
Speaker 1: I want to see it, he said. I want to
35:27
Speaker 1: see it so much I can hardly wait. But I'm
35:30
Speaker 1: afraid there isn't time. You must go and see your
35:35
Speaker 1: mother this afternoon, asked the Earl. You think you can't
35:38
Speaker 1: put it off? Why, said Fauntleroy. She has been thinking
35:43
Speaker 1: about me all the morning, and I have been thinking
35:46
Speaker 1: about her. Oh, said the Earl. You have have you
35:51
Speaker 1: ring the bell? As they drove down the avenue under
35:55
Speaker 1: the arching trees, he was rather silent, but fauntle. He
36:01
Speaker 1: talked about the pony. What color was it, how big
36:04
Speaker 1: was it, what was his name? What did it like
36:07
Speaker 1: to eat best? How old was it? How early in
36:10
Speaker 1: the morning might he get up and see it? Dearest
36:13
Speaker 1: will be so glad, he kept saying. She will be
36:17
Speaker 1: so much obliged to you for being so kind to me.
36:20
Speaker 1: She knows I always liked ponies so much, but we
36:23
Speaker 1: never thought I should have one. There was a little
36:27
Speaker 1: boy on Fifth Avenue who had one, and he used
36:29
Speaker 1: to ride out every morning, and we used to take
36:32
Speaker 1: a walk past his house to see him. He leaned
36:36
Speaker 1: back against the cushions and regarded the Earl with rapt
36:39
Speaker 1: interest for a few minutes and an entire silence. I
36:44
Speaker 1: think you must be the best person in the world,
36:47
Speaker 1: he burst forth at last. You are always doing good,
36:51
Speaker 1: aren't you? And thinking about other people, Dearest says That
36:56
Speaker 1: is the best kind of goodness, Not to think about yourself,
36:59
Speaker 1: but to think about other people. That's just the way
37:03
Speaker 1: you are, isn't it. His lordship was so dumbfounded to
37:07
Speaker 1: find himself presented in such agreeable colors that he did
37:11
Speaker 1: not know exactly what to say. He felt that he
37:14
Speaker 1: needed time for reflection, to see each of his ugly,
37:18
Speaker 1: selfish motives changed into a good and generous one by
37:22
Speaker 1: the simplicity of a child. Was a singular experience. Fauntleroy
37:27
Speaker 1: went on, still regarding him with admiring eyes, those great, clear,
37:32
Speaker 1: innocent eyes. You make so many people happy, He said,
37:38
Speaker 1: There's Michael and Bridget and their ten children, and the
37:41
Speaker 1: Apple woman, and Dick and mister Hobbs and mister Higgins
37:45
Speaker 1: and Missus Higgins and their children, and mister Morton, because
37:49
Speaker 1: of course he was glad and dearest in me about
37:53
Speaker 1: the pony and all the other things. Do you know
37:57
Speaker 1: I've counted it up on my fingers and in my mind,
38:00
Speaker 1: and it's twenty seven people you've been kind to. That's
38:04
Speaker 1: a good many, twenty seven. And I was the person
38:08
Speaker 1: who was kind to them, Was I said the earl? Why? Yes,
38:13
Speaker 1: you know, answered Fauntleroy. You made them all happy. Do
38:18
Speaker 1: you know, with some delicate hesitation, that people are sometimes
38:23
Speaker 1: mistaken about earls when they don't know them mister Hobbs?
38:27
Speaker 1: Was I am going to write him and tell him
38:30
Speaker 1: about it? What was mister Hobbs's opinion of earls? Asked
38:34
Speaker 1: his Lordship, Well, you see the difficulty, was replied his
38:40
Speaker 1: young companion, that he didn't know any and he'd only
38:43
Speaker 1: read about them in books. He thought, you mustn't mind
38:47
Speaker 1: it that they were gory tyrants, and he said he
38:51
Speaker 1: wouldn't have them hanging around his store. But if he'd
38:55
Speaker 1: known you, I'm sure he would have felt quite different.
38:59
Speaker 1: I shall tell him about you. What shall you tell him?
39:04
Speaker 1: I shall tell him, said Fauntleroy, glowing with enthusiasm, that
39:08
Speaker 1: you are the kindest man I ever heard of, and
39:12
Speaker 1: you are always thinking of other people and making them happy.
39:15
Speaker 1: And and I hope when I grow up I shall
39:18
Speaker 1: be just like you. Just like me, repeated his lordship,
39:25
Speaker 1: looking at the little kindling face, and a dull red
39:29
Speaker 1: crept up under his withered skin. And he suddenly turned
39:32
Speaker 1: his eyes away and looked out of the carriage window
39:35
Speaker 1: at the great beech trees with the sun shining on
39:37
Speaker 1: their glossy red brown leaves. Just like you, said Fauntleroy,
39:43
Speaker 1: adding modestly, if I can. Perhaps I'm not good enough,
39:47
Speaker 1: but I'm going to try. The carriage rolled on down
39:52
Speaker 1: the stately avenue, under the beautiful broad branched trees, through
39:56
Speaker 1: the spaces of green shade and lanes of golden sunlight.
40:00
Speaker 1: Fauntleroy saw again the lovely places where the ferns grew
40:03
Speaker 1: high and the bluebells swayed in the breeze. He saw
40:06
Speaker 1: the deer standing or lying in the deep grass, turned
40:10
Speaker 1: their large, startled eyes as the carriage passed, and caught
40:13
Speaker 1: glimpses of the brown rabbits as they scurried away. He
40:17
Speaker 1: heard the whir of the partridges, and the calls and
40:19
Speaker 1: songs of the birds, and it all seemed even more
40:22
Speaker 1: beautiful to him than before. All. His heart was filled
40:26
Speaker 1: with pleasure and happiness in the beauty that was on
40:29
Speaker 1: every side. But the old Earl saw and heard very
40:33
Speaker 1: different things, though he was apparently looking out too. He
40:37
Speaker 1: saw a long life in which there had been neither
40:40
Speaker 1: generous deeds nor kind thoughts. He saw years in which
40:44
Speaker 1: a man who had been young and strong, and rich
40:46
Speaker 1: and powerful, had used his youth and strength, and wealth
40:50
Speaker 1: and power only to please himself and kill time. As
40:54
Speaker 1: the days and years succeeded each other, he saw this man,
40:58
Speaker 1: when the time had been killed in old age, had
41:00
Speaker 1: come solitary and without real friends, in the midst of
41:04
Speaker 1: all his splendid wealth. He saw people who disliked or
41:08
Speaker 1: feared him, and people who would flatter and cringed to him,
41:12
Speaker 1: but no one who really cared whether he lived or
41:15
Speaker 1: died unless they had something to gain or lose by it.
41:20
Speaker 1: He looked out on the broad acres which belonged to him,
41:23
Speaker 1: and he knew what faunt Leroy did not, how far
41:26
Speaker 1: they extended, what wealth they represented, and how many people
41:30
Speaker 1: had homes on their soil. And he knew too, another
41:34
Speaker 1: thing Fauntleroy did not, that in all those homes, humble
41:38
Speaker 1: or well to do, there was probably not one person,
41:41
Speaker 1: however much he envied the wealth and stately name and power,
41:45
Speaker 1: and however willing he would have been to possess them,
41:48
Speaker 1: who would for an instant have thought of calling the
41:50
Speaker 1: noble owner good or wishing as this simple soul little
41:54
Speaker 1: boy had to be like him. And it was not
41:59
Speaker 1: exactly pleasant to reflect upon, even for a cynical, worldly
42:03
Speaker 1: old man, who had been sufficient unto himself for seventy years,
42:07
Speaker 1: and who had never deigned to care what opinion the
42:09
Speaker 1: world held of him, so long as it did not
42:12
Speaker 1: interfere with his comfort or entertainment. And the fact was indeed,
42:17
Speaker 1: that he had never before condescended to reflect upon it
42:20
Speaker 1: at all, and he only did so now because a
42:23
Speaker 1: child had believed him better than he was, and by
42:26
Speaker 1: wishing to follow in his illustrious footsteps and imitate his example,
42:31
Speaker 1: had suggested to him the curious question whether he was
42:34
Speaker 1: exactly the person to take as a model. Fauntleroy thought
42:39
Speaker 1: the Earl's foot must be hurting him. His brows knitted
42:42
Speaker 1: themselves together so as he looked out at the park,
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Speaker 1: and thinking this, the considerate little fellow tried not to
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Speaker 1: disturb him, and enjoyed the trees and the ferns and
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Speaker 1: the deer in silence. But at last the carriage, having
42:56
Speaker 1: passed the gates and bowled through the green lanes for
42:59
Speaker 1: a short distance, stopped. They had reached Court Lodge, and
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Speaker 1: Fauntleroy was out upon the ground, almost before the big
43:06
Speaker 1: footman had time to open the carriage door. The Earl
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Speaker 1: wakened from his reverie with a start. What he said,
43:14
Speaker 1: Are we here? Yes, said Fauntleroy, Let me give you
43:18
Speaker 1: your stick, just lean on me when you get out.
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Speaker 1: I am not going to get out, replied his lordship, brusquely,
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Speaker 1: not not to see dearest, exclaimed Fauntleroy with an astonished face. Dearest,
43:33
Speaker 1: will excuse me, said the earl dryly. Go to her
43:37
Speaker 1: and tell her that not even a new pony would
43:39
Speaker 1: keep you away. She will be disappointed, said Fauntleroy. She
43:44
Speaker 1: will want to see you very much. I am afraid not,
43:49
Speaker 1: was the answer. The carriage will call for you as
43:52
Speaker 1: we come back. Tell Jeffreys to drive on Thomas. Thomas
43:57
Speaker 1: closed the carriage door, and after a puzzled look, Fauntleroy
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Speaker 1: ran up the drive. The Earl had the opportunity, as
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Speaker 1: mister Havisham once had, of seeing a pair of handsome,
44:08
Speaker 1: strong little legs flash over the ground with astonishing rapidity.
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Speaker 1: Evidently their owner had no intention of losing any time.
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Speaker 1: The carriage rolled slowly away, but his lordship did not
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Speaker 1: at once lean back. He still looked out through his face.
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Speaker 1: In the trees, he could see the house door. It
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Speaker 1: was wide open. The little figure dashed up the steps.
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Speaker 1: Another figure, a little figure too slender and young, in
44:35
Speaker 1: its black gown, ran to meet it. It seemed as
44:39
Speaker 1: if they flew together as Fauntleroy leaped into his mother's arms,
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Speaker 1: hanging about her neck, and covering her sweet young face
44:46
Speaker 1: with kisses. End of chapter six,