ted
him, and that even if he had visitors, they did not come for love of
him--though some found a sort of amusement in his sharp, sarcastic talk,
which spared no one. So long as he had been strong and well, he had gone
from one place to another, pretending to amuse himself, though he had
not really enjoyed it; and when his health began to fail, he felt tired
of everything and shut himself up at Dorincourt, with his gout and his
newspapers and his books. But he could not read all the time, and he
became more and more "bored," as he called it. He hated the long nights
and days, and he grew more and more savage and irritable. And then
Fauntleroy came; and when the Earl saw him, fortunately for the little
fellow, the secret pride of the grandfather was gratified at the outset.
If Cedric had been a less handsome little fellow, the old man might have
taken so strong a dislike to him that he would not have given himself
the chance to see his grandson's finer qualities. But he chose to
think that Cedric's beauty and fearless spirit were the results of the
Dorincourt blood and a credit to the Dorincourt rank. And then when
he heard the lad talk, and saw what a well-bred little fellow he was,
notwithstanding his boyish ignorance of all that his new position meant,
the old Earl liked his grandson more, and actually began to find himself
rather entertained. It had amused him to give into those childish hands
the power to bestow a benefit on poor Higgins. My lord cared nothing
for poor Higgins, but it pleased him a little to think that his grandson
would be talked about by the country people and would begin to be
popular with the tenantry, even in his childhood. Then it had gratified
him to drive to church with Cedric and to see the excitement and
interest caused by the arrival. He knew how the people would speak of
the beauty of the little lad; of his fine, strong, straight body; of
his erect bearing, his handsome face, and his bright hair, and how they
would say (as the Earl had heard one woman exclaim to another) that the
boy was "every inch a lord." My lord of Dorincourt was an arrogant old
man, proud of his name, proud of his rank, and therefore proud to show
the world that at last the House of Dorincourt had an heir who was
worthy of the position he was to fill.

The morning the new pony had been tried, the Earl had been so pleased
that he had almost forgotten his gout. When the groom had brought out
the pretty creature, which