書蟲1級《小爵爺》7. 城堡中的變化

7. Changes at the castle

Wonderful things always happen quickly. Letters went to and from America and England, and soon Mr Hobbs, Dick, and Dick's brother Ben were on a ship to England.

Things happened quickly because Minna – and it was Minna – was a bad woman, and a stupid one too. When she married Bevis, the Earl's son, she was still Ben's wife, and you can't have two husbands. Her son Tom was eight years old, not five, so he was Ben's son, not Bevis's son.

She was in a sitting room in the Dorincourt Hotel when the end came. The door opened, and in came three people – Mr Havisham, a big young man, and the Earl of Dorincourt. Minna jumped to her feet with a cry.

Do you know this woman?' Mr Havisham said to the big young man.

Yes,' said Ben. 'I know her and she knows me.'

And that was the end of Minna. She left the hotel and nobody ever saw her again. Ben took his son Tom back to California with him, and with the Earl's help he bought a little farm there.

When the Earl left the hotel, he went at once to his carriage. 'To Court Lodge,' he said to his servant.

He came into the sitting room at Court Lodge and found Cedric with his mother. The Earl looked taller and younger, and there was a smile in his black eyes. He looked at his grandson.

So here,' he said, 'is Lord Fauntleroy.'

Mrs Errol stood up. 'Oh, is he truly Lord Fauntleroy?' she asked. The Earl took her hand.

Yes,' he answered, 'he is.' Then he put his other hand on Cedric's head.

Fauntleroy,' he said, 'ask your mother this. When is she coming to us at the castle?'

Lord Fauntleroy put his arms round his mother. 'To live with us,' he cried. 'To live with us always!'

Mrs Errol looked at the Earl with her sweet, sad eyes.

We need you,' the Earl said. 'We need you very much.'

Dick and Mr Hobbs did not go back to America at once. The Earl had a talk with Dick, and Dick went back to school, in England this time. His writing got much better, and he began to study to be a lawyer.

Mr Hobbs liked England very much. In the end he opened a new shop in Dorincourt, and was an important person in the village. People at the castle, of course, always went to his shop, and Cedric was in and out every day, to see his old friend.

Are you ever going back to America?' Dick asked Mr Hobbs when he visited one day.

I don't think so,' Mr Hobbs said. 'I like to be near the boy, you see. He's a fine little lord, young Cedric.'

To live with us,' Cedric cried.'To live with us always!'