Stranica 140 [140]
I20. LITILE LORD HFAUNTLEROY.
eee ee ER a
"Higgins was on the verge of being panic-stricken. He felt it
would be the safer and more discreet plan not to look at the Earl, as
it had been well known that his fatherly affection for his sons had been
such that he had seen them about twice a year, and that when they
had been ill, he had promptly departed for London, because he
would not be bored with doctors and nurses. It was a little try¬
ing, therefore, to his lordship’s nerves to be told, while he looked on,
his eyes gleaming from under his shaggy eyebrows, that he felt an
interest in scarlet fever.
“You see, Higgins,” broke in the Earl with a fine grim smile,
"you people have been mistaken in me. Lord Fauntleroy under¬
stands me. When you want reliable information on the subject of
my character, apply to him. Get into the carriage, Fauntleroy.”
And Fauntleroy jumped in, and the carriage rolled away down
the green lane, and even when it turned the corner into the high
road, the Earl was still grimly smiling.