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Lord Dorincourt had occasion to wear his grim smile many a time
as the days passed by. Indeed, as his acquaintance with his
grandson progressed, he wore the smile so often that there were
moments when it almost lost its grimness. There is no denying
that before Lord Fauntleroy had appeared on the scene, the old
man had been growing very tired of his loneliness and his gout
and his seventy years. After so long a life of excitement and
amusement, it was not agreeable to sit alone even in the most
splendid room, with one foot on a gout-stool, and with no other
diversion than flying into a rage, and shouting at a frightened
footman who hated the sight of him. The old Earl was too clever
a man not to know perfectly well that his servants detested 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.
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