Oldal 44 [44]
24 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
He did not think it would be discreet to repeat the exact words
the Earl had used, which were in fact neither polite nor amiable.
Mr. Havisham preferred to express his noble patrons offer in
smoother and more courteous language.
He had another slight shock when Mrs. Errol asked Mary to
find her little boy and bring him to her, and Mary told her where
he was.
"Sure I II foind him aisy enough, maam," she said; "for It s
wid Mr. Hobbs he is this minnit, settin’ on his mn shtool by the
counther an’ talkin’ pollytics, most loikely, or enj’yin’ hisself among
the soap an’ candles an pertaties, as sinsible an shwate as ye
plase.”
“Mr. Hobbs has known him all his life,’ Mrs. Errol said to the
lawyer. ‘He is very kind to Ceddie, and there is a great friendship
between them.”
Remembering the glimpse he had caught of the store as he
passed it, and having a recollection of the barrels of potatoes and
apples and the various odds and ends, Mr. Havisham felt his doubts
arise again. In England, gentlemen’s sons did not make friends of
grocerymen, and it seemed to him a rather singular proceeding. It
would be very awkward if the child had bad manners and a disposi¬
tion to like low company. One of the bitterest humiliations of the
old Earl's life had been that his two elder sons had been fond of low
company. Could it be, he thought, that this boy shared their bad
qualities instead of his father’s good qualities?
He was thinking uneasily about this as he talked to Mrs. Errol
until the child came into the room. When the door opened, he
actually hesitated a moment before looking at Cedric. It would,
perhaps, have seemed very queer to a great many people who knew
him, if they could have known the curious sensations that passed
through Mr. Havisham when he looked down at the boy, who ran