書蟲1級《小爵爺》5. 哈維沙姆先生帶來的消息

5. News from Mr Havisham

The news went round the village and the farms faster than a carriage with six horses.

Did you hear? The vicar went up to the castle and spoke to the Earl about poor Mr Higgins...'

And the boy was there, little Lord Fauntleroy...'

Yes, and the Earl said to his grandson, "You write to Mr Newick, you tell him." And the boy did!'

And the vicar took the letter to Mr Newick, and now Mr Newick can't put poor Higgins and his family out in the street.'

Yes, and they've got another month to find the rent!'

Days and weeks went past, and by now everybody knew about Lord Fauntleroy and his mother. They loved the boy, with his golden curly hair and his happy smile. They saw him every day on his new pony, and he always had a friendly word for everyone.

The village people loved Mrs Errol too, because of her kind heart and her sweet face. When somebody was ill in the village, Mrs Errol was always there to help.

But the Earl never saw her, never spoke to her, never went to her house. Cedric, of course, saw her every day, but his heart was sad because his 'best friend' did not live with him in the same house.

The Earl liked his little grandson more and more every week. He often forgot about his painful foot, and he began to smile more; sometimes he even laughed. He liked to please his grandson. When Lord Fauntleroy wanted new houses for some very poor villagers, the Earl built new houses. When the boy wanted to talk about his mother, the Earl listened. But he did not like it.

Do you never forget about your mother?' he said to his grandson one day.

No,' said Cedric. 'Never. And she never forgets about me. I don't forget about you, you know, when I'm away.'

The young lord did not forget his friends in America either. Letters went to and from New York, and Dick and Mr Hobbs heard all about Cedric's new life.

One day the Earl gave a great party, and all the important families for miles around came to it – to meet Lord Fauntleroy. Mr Havisham came from London too, but he was very quiet all evening, and looked worried.

At the end of the party, the Earl spoke to him.

Well, Havisham, what's the matter?'

I bring some bad news, my lord, about your heir.'

My heir? Fauntleroy is my heir. What do you mean?'

Cedric was sad because his mother did not live with him.

My lord,' said Mr Havisham. 'Cedric Errol is not your heir. He is not Lord Fauntleroy. The true Lord Fauntleroy is the son of your oldest son Bevis, and at the moment he is in London with his mother.'

The Earl's face was as white as his hair. 'Bevis?' he said.' This isn't true. Havisham, tell me this isn't true!'

A woman came to my office this morning,' said Mr Havisham. 'Bevis married her six years ago in London. She has all the papers. He left her after a year, but she had a son. He's now five years old. The woman is American. She's beautiful, but... well, she can only just write her name. And she's only interested in the money.'

The Earl's face was now dark red. He jumped up from his chair and began to walk up and down the room.

Bevis was always the worst!' he said angrily. 'I hated him, and he hated me. I must stop this! Cedric is very dear to me, Havisham, very dear. He's a fine boy, and he's going to be a better Earl of Dorincourt than me – or any child of Bevis's!'

Far away in New York, two of Cedric's friends sat round a table in a grocery store. They ate a supper of bread and cold meat, and talked about Lord Fauntleroy.

Dick usually came round to the grocery store once a week. He and Mr Hobbs were now good friends, and they enjoyed reading the letters from England, and talking about them. When they wrote back to Cedric, Mr Hobbs helped Dick with his writing, because writing was difficult for Dick.

The Earl began to walk up and down the room.

I didn't get much time for school, see,' Dick told Mr Hobbs one day. 'Pa and Ma were dead, and there was no money. So me and my brother worked.'

That was your brother Ben, was it?' Mr Hobbs said.

Yeah, my older brother,' said Dick. 'He was good to me, Ben was. But then he married this girl, and oh dear, she was bad news! She was a good-looking girl – big black eyes, long black hair – but she was always angry about something or somebody, me or Ben or the baby. I remember, she broke a plate on Ben's head once. She hit the baby too. A nice mother she was!'

Women!' said Mr Hobbs. 'Best to keep away from them, I say. I never married.'

Well, she didn't stay long,' Dick said. 'She was angry with Ben because he didn't make money faster. So one day she left, with the baby. We never saw her again. She left New York, someone told us.'

What happened to your brother?' Mr Hobbs asked.

Ben's out in California now, working with horses on a big farm somewhere. He was sad about Minna and his baby son for a long time, poor old Ben.'

After supper, Mr Hobbs took out a letter. 'This came from our friend today,' he said. 'Let's read it together now.' He opened the letter and they began to read.

Mr Hobbs opened the letter and they began to read.

My dear frend Mr Hobbs – i have some surprising news to tel you and Dick. I am not lord fauntleroy becaus my uncle Bevis (he is dead) had a litle boy but nobody knew about him. my uncle Bevis was the oldest son of the earl and so his son is lord fauntleroy and i am just Cedric Errol again. my papa was the youngest son and youngest sons don't have anything so i am not very rich and i am going to learn to work prhaps with horses because i like them a lot. my grandfarther is very angry about it and i never saw him angry before. with love from yor old frend Cedric Errol (not lord fauntleroy).

Well!' said Mr Hobbs. 'Well, I don't know. Did you ever hear anything like that before?'

No, I didn't,' said Dick. 'But I know one thing. Young Cedric needs his friends at a time like this. Let's write back to him, Mr Hobbs, and let's do it now!'