Chapter XV

by Frances Hodgson Burnett

　　Ben took his boy and went back to his cattle ranch in California,and he returned under very comfortable circumstances. Justbefore his going, Mr. Havisham had an interview with him in whichthe lawyer told him that the Earl of Dorincourt wished to dosomething for the boy who might have turned out to be LordFauntleroy, and so he had decided that it would be a good plan toinvest in a cattle ranch of his own, and put Ben in charge of iton terms which would make it pay him very well, and which wouldlay a foundation for his son's future. And so when Ben wentaway, he went as the prospective master of a ranch which would bealmost as good as his own, and might easily become his own intime, as indeed it did in the course of a few years; and Tom, theboy, grew up on it into a fine young man and was devotedly fondof his father; and they were so successful and happy that Benused to say that Tom made up to him for all the troubles he hadever had.But Dick and Mr. Hobbs--who had actually come over with theothers to see that things were properly looked after--did notreturn for some time. It had been decided at the outset that theEarl would provide for Dick, and would see that he received asolid education; and Mr. Hobbs had decided that as he himself hadleft a reliable substitute in charge of his store, he couldafford to wait to see the festivities which were to celebrateLord Fauntleroy's eighth birthday. All the tenantry wereinvited, and there were to be feasting and dancing and games inthe park, and bonfires and fire-works in the evening."Just like the Fourth of July!" said Lord Fauntleroy. "Itseems a pity my birthday wasn't on the Fourth, doesn't it? Forthen we could keep them both together."It must be confessed that at first the Earl and Mr. Hobbs werenot as intimate as it might have been hoped they would become, inthe interests of the British aristocracy. The fact was that theEarl had known very few grocery-men, and Mr. Hobbs had not hadmany very close acquaintances who were earls; and so in theirrare interviews conversation did not flourish. It must also beowned that Mr. Hobbs had been rather overwhelmed by the splendorsFauntleroy felt it his duty to show him.The entrance gate and the stone lions and the avenue impressedMr. Hobbs somewhat at the beginning, and when he saw the Castle,and the flower-gardens, and the hot-houses, and the terraces, andthe peacocks, and the dungeon, and the armor, and the greatstaircase, and the stables, and the liveried servants, he reallywas quite bewildered. But it was the picture gallery whichseemed to be the finishing stroke."Somethin' in the manner of a museum?" he said to Fauntleroy,when he was led into the great, beautiful room."N--no--!" said Fauntleroy, rather doubtfully. "I don't thinkit's a museum. My grandfather says these are my ancestors.""Your aunt's sisters!" ejaculated Mr. Hobbs. "All of 'em?Your great-uncle, he must have had a family! Did he raise 'emall?"And he sank into a seat and looked around him with quite anagitated countenance, until with the greatest difficulty LordFauntleroy managed to explain that the walls were not linedentirely with the portraits of the progeny of his great-uncle.He found it necessary, in fact, to call in the assistance of Mrs.Mellon, who knew all about the pictures, and could tell whopainted them and when, and who added romantic stories of thelords and ladies who were the originals. When Mr. Hobbs onceunderstood, and had heard some of these stories, he was very muchfascinated and liked the picture gallery almost better thananything else; and he would often walk over from the village,where he staid at the Dorincourt Arms, and would spend half anhour or so wandering about the gallery, staring at the paintedladies and gentlemen, who also stared at him, and shaking hishead nearly all the time."And they was all earls!" he would say, "er pretty nigh it!An' he's goin' to be one of 'em, an' own it all!"Privately he was not nearly so much disgusted with earls andtheir mode of life as he had expected to be, and it is to bedoubted whether his strictly republican principles were notshaken a little by a closer acquaintance with castles andancestors and all the rest of it. At any rate, one day heuttered a very remarkable and unexpected sentiment:"I wouldn't have minded bein' one of 'em myself!" hesaid--which was really a great concession.What a grand day it was when little Lord Fauntleroy's birthdayarrived, and how his young lordship enjoyed it! How beautifulthe park looked, filled with the thronging people dressed intheir gayest and best, and with the flags flying from the tentsand the top of the Castle! Nobody had staid away who couldpossibly come, because everybody was really glad that little LordFauntleroy was to be little Lord Fauntleroy still, and some daywas to be the master of everything. Every one wanted to have alook at him, and at his pretty, kind mother, who had made so manyfriends. And positively every one liked the Earl rather better,and felt more amiably toward him because the little boy loved andtrusted him so, and because, also, he had now made friends withand behaved respectfully to his heir's mother. It was said thathe was even beginning to be fond of her, too, and that betweenhis young lordship and his young lordship's mother, the Earlmight be changed in time into quite a well-behaved old nobleman,and everybody might be happier and better off.What scores and scores of people there were under the trees, andin the tents, and on the lawns! Farmers and farmers' wives intheir Sunday suits and bonnets and shawls; girls and theirsweethearts; children frolicking and chasing about; and old damesin red cloaks gossiping together. At the Castle, there wereladies and gentlemen who had come to see the fun, and tocongratulate the Earl, and to meet Mrs. Errol. Lady Lorredaileand Sir Harry were there, and Sir Thomas Asshe and his daughters,and Mr. Havisham, of course, and then beautiful Miss VivianHerbert, with the loveliest white gown and lace parasol, and acircle of gentlemen to take care of her--though she evidentlyliked Fauntleroy better than all of them put together. And whenhe saw her and ran to her and put his arm around her neck, sheput her arms around him, too, and kissed him as warmly as if hehad been her own favorite little brother, and she said:"Dear little Lord Fauntleroy! dear little boy! I am so glad!I am so glad!"And afterward she walked about the grounds with him, and let himshow her everything. And when he took her to where Mr. Hobbs andDick were, and said to her, "This is my old, old friend Mr.Hobbs, Miss Herbert, and this is my other old friend Dick. Itold them how pretty you were, and I told them they should seeyou if you came to my birthday,"--she shook hands with themboth, and stood and talked to them in her prettiest way, askingthem about America and their voyage and their life since they hadbeen in England; while Fauntleroy stood by, looking up at herwith adoring eyes, and his cheeks quite flushed with delightbecause he saw that Mr. Hobbs and Dick liked her so much."Well," said Dick solemnly, afterward, "she's the daisiest galI ever saw! She's--well, she's just a daisy, that's what she is,'n' no mistake!"Everybody looked after her as she passed, and every one lookedafter little Lord Fauntleroy. And the sun shone and the flagsfluttered and the games were played and the dances danced, and asthe gayeties went on and the joyous afternoon passed, his littlelordship was simply radiantly happy.The whole world seemed beautiful to him.There was some one else who was happy, too,--an old man, who,though he had been rich and noble all his life, had not oftenbeen very honestly happy. Perhaps, indeed, I shall tell you thatI think it was because he was rather better than he had been thathe was rather happier. He had not, indeed, suddenly become asgood as Fauntleroy thought him; but, at least, he had begun tolove something, and he had several times found a sort of pleasurein doing the kind things which the innocent, kind little heart ofa child had suggested,--and that was a beginning. And every dayhe had been more pleased with his son's wife. It was true, asthe people said, that he was beginning to like her too. He likedto hear her sweet voice and to see her sweet face; and as he satin his arm-chair, he used to watch her and listen as she talkedto her boy; and he heard loving, gentle words which were new tohim, and he began to see why the little fellow who had lived in aNew York side street and known grocery-men and made friends withboot-blacks, was still so well-bred and manly a little fellowthat he made no one ashamed of him, even when fortune changed himinto the heir to an English earldom, living in an English castle.It was really a very simple thing, after all,--it was only thathe had lived near a kind and gentle heart, and had been taught tothink kind thoughts always and to care for others. It is a verylittle thing, perhaps, but it is the best thing of all. He knewnothing of earls and castles; he was quite ignorant of all grandand splendid things; but he was always lovable because he wassimple and loving. To be so is like being born a king.As the old Earl of Dorincourt looked at him that day, movingabout the park among the people, talking to those he knew andmaking his ready little bow when any one greeted him,entertaining his friends Dick and Mr. Hobbs, or standing near hismother or Miss Herbert listening to their conversation, the oldnobleman was very well satisfied with him. And he had never beenbetter satisfied than he was when they went down to the biggesttent, where the more important tenants of the Dorincourt estatewere sitting down to the grand collation of the day.They were drinking toasts; and, after they had drunk the healthof the Earl, with much more enthusiasm than his name had everbeen greeted with before, they proposed the health of "LittleLord Fauntleroy." And if there had ever been any doubt at all asto whether his lordship was popular or not, it would have beenset that instant. Such a clamor of voices, and such a rattle ofglasses and applause! They had begun to like him so much, thosewarm-hearted people, that they forgot to feel any restraintbefore the ladies and gentlemen from the castle, who had come tosee them. They made quite a decent uproar, and one or twomotherly women looked tenderly at the little fellow where hestood, with his mother on one side and the Earl on the other, andgrew quite moist about the eyes, and said to one another:"God bless him, the pretty little dear!"Little Lord Fauntleroy was delighted. He stood and smiled, andmade bows, and flushed rosy red with pleasure up to the roots ofhis bright hair."Is it because they like me, Dearest?" he said to his mother."Is it, Dearest? I'm so glad!"And then the Earl put his hand on the child's shoulder and saidto him:"Fauntleroy, say to them that you thank them for theirkindness."Fauntleroy gave a glance up at him and then at his mother."Must I?" he asked just a trifle shyly, and she smiled, and sodid Miss Herbert, and they both nodded. And so he made a littlestep forward, and everybody looked at him--such a beautiful,innocent little fellow he was, too, with his brave, trustfulface!--and he spoke as loudly as he could, his childish voiceringing out quite clear and strong."I'm ever so much obliged to you!" he said, "and--I hopeyou'll enjoy my birthday--because I've enjoyed it somuch--and--I'm very glad I'm going to be an earl; I didn't thinkat first I should like it, but now I do--and I love this placeso, and I think it is beautiful--and--and--and when I am an earl,I am going to try to be as good as my grandfather."And amid the shouts and clamor of applause, he stepped back witha little sigh of relief, and put his hand into the Earl's andstood close to him, smiling and leaning against his side.And that would be the very end of my story; but I must add onecurious piece of information, which is that Mr. Hobbs became sofascinated with high life and was so reluctant to leave his youngfriend that he actually sold his corner store in New York, andsettled in the English village of Erlesboro, where he opened ashop which was patronized by the Castle and consequently was agreat success. And though he and the Earl never became veryintimate, if you will believe me, that man Hobbs became in timemore aristocratic than his lordship himself, and he read theCourt news every morning, and followed all the doings of theHouse of Lords! And about ten years after, when Dick, who hadfinished his education and was going to visit his brother inCalifornia, asked the good grocer if he did not wish to return toAmerica, he shook his head seriously."Not to live there," he said. "Not to live there; I want tobe near him, an' sort o' look after him. It's a good enoughcountry for them that's young an' stirrin'--but there's faults init. There's not an auntsister among 'em--nor an earl!"