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LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY. I31
_any one supposed; even his mother did not know how often he pon¬
dered on it; the Earl for a long time never suspected that he did
so at all. But, being guick to observe, the little boy could not help
wondering why it was that his mother and grandfather never seemed
to meet. He had noticed that they never did meet. When the Dorin¬
court carriage stopped at Court Lodge, the Earl never alighted, and
on the rare occasions of his lordship’s going to church, Fauntleroy was
always left to speak to his mother in the porch alone, or perhaps
to go home with her. And yet, every day, fruit and flowers were sent
to Court Lodge from the hot-houses at the Castle. But the one vir¬
tuous action of the Earl’s which had set him upon the pinnacle of
perfection in Cedric’s eyes, was what he had done soon after that first
Sunday when Mrs. Errol had walked home from church unattended.
About a week later, when Cedric was going one day to visit his
mother, he found at the door, instead of the large carriage and
prancing pair, a pretty little brougham and a handsome bay horse.
“That is a present from you to your mother,” the Earl said
abruptly. " She can not go walking about the country. She needs
a carriage. The man who drives will take charge of it. It is a
present from you.”
Fauntleroy’s delight could but feebly express itself. He could
scarcely contain himself until he reached the lodge. His mother
was gathering roses in the garden. He flung himself out of the
little brougham and flew to her.
‘“ Dearest!” he cried, "could you believe it? This is yours! He
Says it is a present from me. It is your own carriage to drive every¬
where in!”
He was so happy that she did not know what to say. She
could not have borne to spoil his pleasure by refusing to accept the
sift even though it came from the man who chose to consider him¬
self her enemy. She was obliged to step into the carriage, roses
and all, and let herself be taken to drive, while Fauntleroy told her