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Little Lord Fauntleroy Chapter 4 · The Frances Hodgson Burnett Library

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  Speaker 1: CHAPTER FOUR It was during the voyage that Cedric's mother
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  Speaker 1: told him that his home was not to be hers,
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  Speaker 1: and when he first understood it, his grief was so
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  Speaker 1: great that Mr. Havisham saw that the Earl had been
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  Speaker 1: wise in making the arrangements that his mother should be
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  Speaker 1: quite near him and see him often, for it was
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  Speaker 1: very plain he could not have borne the separation otherwise.
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  Speaker 1: But his mother managed the little fellow so sweetly and
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  Speaker 1: lovingly and made him feel that she would be so
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  Speaker 1: near him that, after a while, he ceased to be
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  Speaker 1: oppressed by the fear of any real parting. My house
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  Speaker 1: is not far from the castle city, she repeated each
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  Speaker 1: time the subject was referred to. A very little way
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  Speaker 1: from yours, and you can always run in and see
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  Speaker 1: me every day, and you will have so many things
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  Speaker 1: to tell me, and we shall be so happy together.
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  Speaker 1: It is a beautiful place. Your papa has often told
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  Speaker 1: me about it. He loved it very much, and you
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  Speaker 1: will love it too. I should love it better if
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  Speaker 1: you were there, his small lordship said with a heavy sigh.
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  Speaker 1: He could not but feel puzzled by so strange a
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  Speaker 1: state of affairs which put his dearest in one house
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  Speaker 1: and himself in another. The fact was that Mrs. Errol
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  Speaker 1: had thought it better not to tell him why this
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  Speaker 1: plan had been made. I should prefer he should not
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  Speaker 1: be told. she said to Mr. Havisham. He would not
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  Speaker 1: really understand. He would only be shocked and hurt, and
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  Speaker 1: I feel sure that his feeling for the Earl will
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  Speaker 1: be a more natural and affectionate one if he does
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  Speaker 1: not know that his grandfather dislikes me so bitterly. He
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  Speaker 1: has never seen hatred or hardness, and it would be
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  Speaker 1: a great blow to him to find out that anyone
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  Speaker 1: could hate me. He is so loving himself, and I
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  Speaker 1: am so dear to him. it is better for him
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  Speaker 1: that he should not be told until he is much
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  Speaker 1: older and it is far better for the earl it
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  Speaker 1: would make a barrier between them even though cedric is
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  Speaker 1: such a child so cedric only knew that there was
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  Speaker 1: some mysterious reason for the arrangement some reason which he
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  Speaker 1: was not old enough to understand but which would be
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  Speaker 1: explained when he was older he was puzzled but after
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  Speaker 1: all it was not the reason he cared about so
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  Speaker 1: much and, after many talks with his mother, in which
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  Speaker 1: she comforted him and placed before him the bright side
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  Speaker 1: of the picture, the dark side of it gradually began
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  Speaker 1: to fade out, though now and then Mr. Havisham saw
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  Speaker 1: him sitting in some queer little old-fashioned attitude, watching the sea,
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  Speaker 1: with a very grave face, and more than once he
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  Speaker 1: heard an unchildish sigh rise to his lips.' I don't
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  Speaker 1: like it,' he said once, as he was having one
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  Speaker 1: of his almost venerable talks with the lawyer. You don't
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  Speaker 1: know how much I don't like it. But there are
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  Speaker 1: a great many troubles in this world, and you have
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  Speaker 1: to bear them. Mary says so, and I've heard Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Hobbs say it too. And dearest wants me to like
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  Speaker 1: to live with my grandpapa, because, you see, all his
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  Speaker 1: children are dead, and that's very mournful. It makes you
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  Speaker 1: sorry for a man when all his children have died,
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  Speaker 1: and one was killed suddenly. One of the things which
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  Speaker 1: always delighted the people who made the acquaintance of his
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  Speaker 1: young lordship was the sage little air he wore at
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  Speaker 1: times when he gave himself up to conversation. Combined with
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  Speaker 1: his occasionally elderly remarks and the extreme innocence and seriousness
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  Speaker 1: of his round childish face, it was irresistible. He was
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  Speaker 1: such a handsome, blooming, curly-headed little fellow that when he
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  Speaker 1: sat down and nursed his knee with his chubby hands
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  Speaker 1: and conversed with much gravity... he was a source of
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  Speaker 1: great entertainment to his hearers. Gradually Mr. Havisham began to
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  Speaker 1: derive a great deal of private pleasure and amusement from
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  Speaker 1: his society. And so you are going to try to
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  Speaker 1: like the Earl, he said. Yes, answered his lordship. He's
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  Speaker 1: my relation, and of course you have to like your relations.
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  Speaker 1: And besides, he's been very kind to me. When a
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  Speaker 1: person does so many things for you, and wants you
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  Speaker 1: to have everything you wish for. Of course, you'd like
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  Speaker 1: him if he wasn't your relation. But when he's your
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  Speaker 1: relation and does that, why, you're very fond of him.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think, suggested Mr. Havisham, that he will be
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  Speaker 1: fond of you? Well, said Cedric, I think he will, because,
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  Speaker 1: you see, I'm his relation too, and I'm his boy's
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  Speaker 1: little boy besides, and, well, don't you see, Of course
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  Speaker 1: he must be fond of me now, or he wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: want me to have everything that I like, and he
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  Speaker 1: wouldn't have sent you for me. Oh, remarked the lawyer,
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  Speaker 1: that's it, is it? Yes, said Cedric, that's it. Don't
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  Speaker 1: you think that's it, too? Of course a man would
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  Speaker 1: be fond of his grandson. The people who had been
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  Speaker 1: seasick had no sooner recovered from their seasickness and come
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  Speaker 1: on deck to recline in their steamer chairs and enjoy themselves,
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  Speaker 1: then everyone seemed to know the romantic story of little
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  Speaker 1: Lord Fauntleroy. And everyone took an interest in the little fellow,
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  Speaker 1: who ran about the ship, or walked with his mother,
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  Speaker 1: or the tall, thin old lawyer, or talked to the sailors.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone liked him. He made friends everywhere. He was ever
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  Speaker 1: ready to make friends. When the gentleman walked up and
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  Speaker 1: down the deck and let him walk with them, He
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  Speaker 1: stepped out with a manly, sturdy little tramp and answered
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  Speaker 1: all their jokes with much gay enjoyment. When the ladies
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  Speaker 1: talked to him, there was always laughter in the group
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  Speaker 1: of which he was the center. When he played with
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  Speaker 1: the children, there was always magnificent fun on hand. Among
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  Speaker 1: the sailors, he had the hardiest friends. He heard miraculous
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  Speaker 1: stories about pirates and shipwrecks and desert islands. He learned
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  Speaker 1: to splice ropes and rig toy ships. and gained an
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  Speaker 1: amount of information concerning topsails and mainsails quite surprising. His
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  Speaker 1: conversation had, indeed, quite a nautical flavor at times, and
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  Speaker 1: on one occasion he raised a shout of laughter in
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  Speaker 1: a group of ladies and gentlemen who were sitting on deck,
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  Speaker 1: wrapped in shawls and overcoats, by saying sweetly, and with
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  Speaker 1: a very engaging expression, Shiver my timbers, but it's a
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  Speaker 1: cold day! It surprised him when they laughed. He had
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  Speaker 1: picked up this seafaring remark from an elderly naval man
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  Speaker 1: of the name of Jerry, who told him stories in
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  Speaker 1: which it occurred frequently. To judge from his stories of
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  Speaker 1: his own adventures, Jerry had made some two or three
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  Speaker 1: thousand voyages, and had been invariably shipwrecked on each occasion
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  Speaker 1: on an island densely populated with bloodthirsty cannibals. Judging also
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  Speaker 1: by these same exciting adventures, he had been partially roasted
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  Speaker 1: and eaten frequently, and had been scalped some fifteen or
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  Speaker 1: twenty times. That is why he is so bald, explained
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  Speaker 1: Lord Fauntleroy to his mamma. After you have been scalped
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  Speaker 1: several times, the hair never grows again. Jerry's never grew
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  Speaker 1: again after that last time, when the king of the
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  Speaker 1: Paro-Macha-Weekens did it with the knife made out of the
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  Speaker 1: skull of the chief of the Wopsle-Mumpkies. He says it
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  Speaker 1: was one of the most serious times he ever had.
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  Speaker 1: He was so frightened that his hair stood right straight
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  Speaker 1: up when the king flourished his knife, and it would
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  Speaker 1: never lie down, and the king wears it that way now,
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  Speaker 1: and it looks something like a hairbrush. I never heard
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  Speaker 1: anything like the experiences Jerry has had. I should so
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  Speaker 1: like to tell Mr. Hobbs about them. Sometimes when the
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  Speaker 1: weather was very disagreeable and people were kept below decks
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  Speaker 1: in the saloons, A party of his grown-up friends would
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  Speaker 1: persuade him to tell them some of these experiences of Jerry's,
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  Speaker 1: and as he sat relating them with great delight and fervor,
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  Speaker 1: there was certainly no more popular voyager on any ocean
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  Speaker 1: steamer crossing the Atlantic than little Lord Fauntleroy. He was
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  Speaker 1: always innocently and good-naturedly ready to do his small best
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  Speaker 1: to add to the general entertainment, and there was a
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  Speaker 1: charm in the very unconsciousness of his own childish importance.
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  Speaker 1: Jerry's stories interest them very much, he said to his mama.
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  Speaker 1: For my part, you must excuse me, dearest, but sometimes
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  Speaker 1: I should have thought they couldn't be all quite true
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  Speaker 1: if they hadn't happened to Jerry himself. But as they
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  Speaker 1: all happened to Jerry, well, it's very strange, you know,
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  Speaker 1: and perhaps sometimes he may forget and be a little mistaken,
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  Speaker 1: as he's been scalped so often. Being scalped a great
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  Speaker 1: many times might make a person forgetful, It was eleven
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  Speaker 1: days after he had said goodbye to his friend Dick
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  Speaker 1: before he reached Liverpool, and it was on the night
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  Speaker 1: of the twelfth day that the carriage which he and
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  Speaker 1: his mother and Mr. Havisham had driven from the station
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  Speaker 1: stopped before the gates of Court Lodge. They could not
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  Speaker 1: see much of the house in the darkness. Cedric only
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  Speaker 1: saw that there was a driveway under great arching trees,
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  Speaker 1: and after the carriage had rolled down this driveway a
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  Speaker 1: short distance, he saw an open door and a stream
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  Speaker 1: of bright light coming through it. Mary had come with
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  Speaker 1: them to attend her mistress, and she had reached the
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  Speaker 1: house before them. When Cedric jumped out of the carriage,
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  Speaker 1: he saw one or two servants standing in the wide,
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  Speaker 1: bright hall, and Mary stood in the doorway. Lord Fauntleroy
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  Speaker 1: sprang at her with a gay little shout. Did you
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  Speaker 1: get here, Mary? he said. Here's Mary, dearest, and he
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  Speaker 1: kissed the maid on her rough red cheek. I am
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  Speaker 1: glad you are here, Mary, Mrs. Errol said to her
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  Speaker 1: in a low voice. It is such a comfort to
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  Speaker 1: me to see you. It takes the strangeness away. And
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  Speaker 1: she held out her little hand, which Mary squeezed encouragingly.
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  Speaker 1: She knew how this first strangeness must feel to this
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  Speaker 1: little mother who had left her own land and was
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  Speaker 1: about to give up her child. The English servants looked
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  Speaker 1: with curiosity at both the boy and his mother. They
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  Speaker 1: had heard all sorts of rumors about them both. They
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  Speaker 1: knew how angry the old Earl had been. and why Mrs.
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  Speaker 1: Errol was to live at the lodge, and her little
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  Speaker 1: boy at the castle. They knew all about the great
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  Speaker 1: fortune he was to inherit, and about the savage old grandfather,
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  Speaker 1: and his gout and his tempers. He'll have no easy
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  Speaker 1: time of it, poor little chap, they had said among themselves.
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  Speaker 1: But they did not know what sort of a little
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  Speaker 1: lord had come among them. They did not quite understand
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  Speaker 1: the character of the next Earl of Dorincourt. He pulled
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  Speaker 1: off his overcoat, quite as if he were used to
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  Speaker 1: doing things for himself, and began to look about him.
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  Speaker 1: He looked at the broad hall, at the pictures and
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  Speaker 1: stag antlers and curious things that ornamented it. They seemed
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  Speaker 1: curious to him because he had never seen such things
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  Speaker 1: before in a private house.' Dearest,' he said,' this is
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  Speaker 1: a very pretty house, isn't it?' I am glad you're
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  Speaker 1: going to live here.' It' s quite a large house.' It
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  Speaker 1: was quite a large house compared to the one in
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  Speaker 1: the shabby New York street, and it was very pretty
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  Speaker 1: and cheerful. Mary led them upstairs to a bright chintz-hung bedroom,
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  Speaker 1: where a fire was burning and a large snow-white Persian
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  Speaker 1: cat was sleeping luxuriously on the white fur hearth rug.
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  Speaker 1: It was the housekeeper up at the castle, ma'am. Sent
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  Speaker 1: her to yous, explained Mary. It's herself is a kind-hearted lady.
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  Speaker 1: and has had everything done to prepare for yez. I
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  Speaker 1: seen her meself a few minutes, and she was fond
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  Speaker 1: of the captain, ma'am, and graves for him, and she
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  Speaker 1: said to say the big cat slipin' on the rug
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  Speaker 1: might make the room more home-like to yez. She knowed
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  Speaker 1: Captain Arrow when he was a b'y, and a foine
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  Speaker 1: handsome b'y she says he was, and a foine young
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  Speaker 1: man with a pleasant word for every one, great and small,
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  Speaker 1: and says aye to her, says aye, He's left a
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  Speaker 1: bye that's like him, ma'am, for a foiner little felly
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  Speaker 1: never stripped in shoe leather. When they were ready, they
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  Speaker 1: went downstairs to another big bright room. Its ceiling was low,
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  Speaker 1: and the furniture was heavy and beautifully carved. The chairs
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  Speaker 1: were deep and had high, massive backs, and there were
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  Speaker 1: queer shelves and cabinets with strange pretty ornaments on them.
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  Speaker 1: There was a great tiger-skin rug before the fire. and
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  Speaker 1: an armchair on each side of it. The stately white
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  Speaker 1: cat had responded to Lord Fauntleroy's stroking and followed him downstairs,
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  Speaker 1: and when he threw himself down upon the rug, she
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  Speaker 1: curled herself up grandly beside him, as if she intended
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  Speaker 1: to make friends. Cedric was so pleased that he put
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  Speaker 1: his head down by hers, and lay stroking her, not
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  Speaker 1: noticing what his mother and Mr. Havisham were saying. They
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  Speaker 1: were indeed speaking in a rather low tone, Mrs. Errol
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  Speaker 1: looked a little pale and agitated. He need not go to-night,
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  Speaker 1: she said. He will stay with me to-night. Yes, answered Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Havisham in the same low tone. It will not be
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  Speaker 1: necessary for him to go to-night. I myself will go
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  Speaker 1: to the castle as soon as we have dined and
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  Speaker 1: inform the Earl of our arrival. Mrs. Errol glanced down
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  Speaker 1: at Cedric. He was lying in a graceful, careless attitude
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  Speaker 1: upon the black and yellow skin. The fire shone on
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  Speaker 1: his handsome, flushed little face, and on the tumbled, curly
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  Speaker 1: hair spread out on the rug. The big cat was
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  Speaker 1: purring in drowsy content. She liked the caressing touch of
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  Speaker 1: the kind little hand on her fur. Mrs. Errol smiled faintly.'
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  Speaker 1: His lordship does not know all that he is taking
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  Speaker 1: from me,' she said rather sadly. Then she looked at
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  Speaker 1: the lawyer. Will you tell him, if you please, she said,
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  Speaker 1: that I should rather not have the money? The money! Mr.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: Havisham exclaimed. You cannot mean the income he proposed to
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  Speaker 1: settle upon you. Yes, she answered quite simply. I think
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  Speaker 1: I should rather not have it. I am obliged to
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  Speaker 1: accept the house, and I thank him for it, because
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  Speaker 1: it makes it possible for me to be near my child.
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  Speaker 1: But I have a little money of my own. enough
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  Speaker 1: to live simply upon, and I should rather not take
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  Speaker 1: the other. As he dislikes me so much, I should
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  Speaker 1: feel a little as if I were selling Cedric to him.
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  Speaker 1: I am giving him up only because I love him
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  Speaker 1: enough to forget myself for his good, and because his
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  Speaker 1: father would wish it to be so. Mr. Havisham rubbed
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  Speaker 1: his chin. This is very strange, he said. He will
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  Speaker 1: be very angry. He won't understand it. I think he
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  Speaker 1: will understand it after he thinks it over, she said.
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  Speaker 1: I do not really need the money, and why should
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  Speaker 1: I accept luxuries from the man who hates me so
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  Speaker 1: much that he takes my little boy from me, his
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  Speaker 1: son's child? Mr. Havisham looked reflective for a few moments.
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  Speaker 1: I will deliver your message, he said afterward. And then
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  Speaker 1: the dinner was brought in and they sat down together,
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  Speaker 1: the big cat taking a seat on a chair near Cedric's.
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  Speaker 1: and purring majestically throughout the meal. When, later in the evening, Mr.
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  Speaker 1: Havisham presented himself at the castle, he was taken at
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  Speaker 1: once to the earl. He found him sitting by the
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  Speaker 1: fire in a luxurious easy-chair, his foot on a gout-stool.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: He looked at the lawyer sharply from under his shaggy eyebrows,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: but Mr. Havisham could see that, in spite of his
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: pretense at calmness, he was nervous and secretly excited.' Well,'
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  Speaker 1: he said,' well, Havisham, come back, have you?' What's the news?
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  Speaker 1: Lord Fauntleroy and his mother are at Court Lodge, replied Mr. Havisham.
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  Speaker 1: They bore the voyage very well and are in excellent health.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: The Earl made a half-impatient sound and moved his hand restlessly.
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  Speaker 1: Glad to hear it, he said brusquely. So far, so good.
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  Speaker 1: Make yourself comfortable. Have a glass of wine and settle down.
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  Speaker 1: What else? His lordship remains with his mother tonight. Tomorrow
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  Speaker 1: I will bring him to the castle. The earl's elbow
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  Speaker 1: was resting on the arm of his chair. He put
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: his hand up and shielded his eyes with it. Well,
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: he said, go on. You know I told you not
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  Speaker 1: to write to me about the matter, and I know
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  Speaker 1: nothing whatever about it. What kind of a lad is he?
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  Speaker 1: I don't care about the mother. What sort of a
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  Speaker 1: lad is he? Mr. Havisham drank a little of the
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: glass of port he had poured out for himself and
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: sat holding it in his hand. It is rather difficult
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  Speaker 1: to judge of the character of a child of seven,
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  Speaker 1: he said cautiously. The Earl's prejudices were very intense. He
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: looked up quickly and uttered a rough word. A fool
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  Speaker 1: is he, he exclaimed, or a clumsy cub? His American
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  Speaker 1: blood tells, does it? I do not think it has
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  Speaker 1: injured him, my lord, replied the lawyer in his dry,
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  Speaker 1: deliberate fashion. I don't know much about children, but I
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  Speaker 1: thought him rather a fine lad. His manner of speech
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: was always deliberate and unenthusiastic, but he made it a
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: trifle more so than usual. He had a shrewd fancy
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  Speaker 1: that it would be better that the Earl should judge
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  Speaker 1: for himself and be quite unprepared for his first interview
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  Speaker 1: with his grandsons. HEALTHY AND WELL-GROWN, ASKED MY LORD. APPARENTLY
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  Speaker 1: VERY HEALTHY AND QUITE WELL-GROWN, REPLIED THE LAWYER. STRAIGHT-LIMBED AND
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: WELL ENOUGH TO LOOK AT, DEMANDED THE URAL. A VERY
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: SLIGHT SMILE TOUCHED MR. HAVESHAM'S THIN LIPS. THERE ROSE UP
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  Speaker 1: BEFORE HIS MIND'S EYE THE PICTURE HE HAD LEFT AT
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  Speaker 1: COURT LODGE. THE BEAUTIFUL, GRACEFUL CHILD'S BODY LYING UPON THE
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  Speaker 1: TIGER'S SKIN IN CARELESS COMFORT. the bright tumbled hair spread
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  Speaker 1: on the rug, the bright rosy boy's face. Rather a
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  Speaker 1: handsome boy, I think, my lord, as boys go, he said,
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  Speaker 1: though I am scarcely a judge, perhaps. But you will
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: find him somewhat different from most English children, I dare say.
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  Speaker 1: I haven't a doubt of that, snarled the earl, a
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: twinge of gout seizing him. A lot of impudent little beggars,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: those American children. I've heard that often enough. It's not
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: exactly impudence in his case, said Mr. Havisham. I can
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: scarcely describe what the difference is. He has lived more
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: with older people than with children, and the difference seems
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: to be a mixture of maturity and childishness. American impudence,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: protested the Earl. I've heard of it before. They call
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: it precocity and freedom. Beastly, impudent, bad manners. That's what
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: it is. Mr. Havisham drank some more port. He seldom
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: argued with his lordly patron, never when his lordly patron's
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: noble leg was inflamed by gout. At such times it
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: was always better to leave him alone. So there was
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: a silence of a few moments. It was Mr. Havisham
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: who broke it. I have a message to deliver from Mrs. Errol,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: he remarked. I don't want any of her messages, growled
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: his lordship. The less I hear of her, the better.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: This is a rather important one, explained the lawyer. She
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: prefers not to accept the income you propose to settle
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: on her. The earl started visibly. What's that? he cried out.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: What's that? Mr. Havisham repeated his words. She says that
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: it is not necessary, and that as the relations between
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: you are not friendly. Not friendly, ejaculated my lord savagely.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: I should say they were not friendly. I hate to
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: think of her, a mercenary, sharp-voiced American. I don't wish
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: to see her. My lord, said Mr. Havisham, you can
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: scarcely call her mercenary. She has asked for nothing. She
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: does not accept the money you offer her. All done
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: for effect, snapped his noble lordship. She wants to wheedle
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: me into seeing her. She thinks I shall admire her spirit.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: I don't admire it. It's only American independence. I won't
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: have her living like a beggar at my park gates.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: As she's the boy's mother, she has a position to
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: keep up. and she shall keep it up. She shall
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: have the money, whether she likes it or not. She
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: won't spend it, said Mr. Havisham. I don't care whether
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: she spends it or not, flustered my lord. She shall
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: have it sent to her. She shan't tell people that
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: she has to live like a pauper because I have
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: done nothing for her. She wants to give the boy
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: a bad opinion of me. I suppose she has poisoned
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: his mind against me already. No, said Mr. Havisham. I
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: have another message, which will prove to you that she
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: has not done that. I don't want to hear it,
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: panted the earl out of breath with anger and excitement
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: and gout. But Mr. Havisham delivered it. She asks you
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: not to let Lord Fauntleroy hear anything which would lead
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: him to understand that you separate him from her because
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: of your prejudice against her. He is very fond of her.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: and she is convinced that it would cause a barrier
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: to exist between you. She says he would not comprehend it,
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: and it might make him fear you in some measure,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: or at least cause him to feel less affection for you.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: She has told him that he is too young to
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: understand the reason, but shall hear it when he is older.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: She wishes that there should be no shadow on your
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: first meeting. The Earl sank back into his chair. His deep-set,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: fierce old eyes gleamed under his beetling brows. Come now,
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: he said, still breathlessly. Come now! You don't mean the
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: mother hasn't told him? Not one word, my lord, replied
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: the lawyer coolly. That I can assure you. The child
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: is prepared to believe you the most amiable and affectionate
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: of grandparents. Nothing, absolutely nothing, has been said to him
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: to give him the slightest doubt of your perfection. And
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: as I carried out your commands in every detail, while
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: in New York, he certainly regards you as a wonder
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: of generosity.'' He does, eh?' said the Earl.' I give
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: you my word of honour,' said Mr. Havisham,' that Lord
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Fauntleroy's impressions of you will depend entirely upon yourself. And
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: if you will pardon the liberty I take in making
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: the suggestion,' I think you will succeed better with him
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: if you take the precaution not to speak slightingly of
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: his mother. Po, po, said the Earl. The youngster is
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: only seven years old. He has spent those seven years
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: at his mother's side, returned Mr. Havisham, and she has
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: all his affection. End of chapter four