It was just as new to him to be spoken to and cared for in that gentle, simple way as it was to be contradicted.  He was reminded of “the boy” again, and he actually did as she asked him.  Perhaps his disappointment and wretchedness were good discipline for him; if he had not been wretched he might have continued to hate her, but just at present he found her a little soothing.  Almost anything would have seemed pleasant by contrast with Lady Fauntleroy; and this one had so sweet a face and voice, and a pretty dignity when she spoke or moved.  Very soon, through the quiet magic of these influences, he began to feel less gloomy, and then he talked still more.

“Whatever happens,” he said, “the boy shall be provided for.  He shall be taken care of, now and in the future.”

Before he went away, he glanced around the room.

“Do you like the house?” he demanded.

“Very much,” she answered.

“This is a cheerful room,” he said.  “May I come here again and talk this matter over?”

“As often as you wish, my lord,” she replied.

And then he went out to his carriage and drove away, Thomas and Henry almost stricken dumb upon the box at the turn affairs had taken.

XIII

Of course, as soon as the story of Lord Fauntleroy and the difficulties of the Earl of Dorincourt were discussed in the English newspapers, they were discussed in the American newspapers.  The story was too interesting to be passed over lightly, and it was talked of a great deal.  There were so many versions of it that it would have been an edifying thing to buy all the papers and compare them.  Mr. Hobbs read so much about it that he became quite bewildered.  One paper described his young friend Cedric as an infant in arms,—­another as a young man at Oxford, winning all the honors, and distinguishing himself by writing Greek poems; one said he was engaged to a young lady of great beauty, who was the daughter of a duke; another said he had just been married; the only thing, in fact, which was not said was that he was a little boy between seven and eight, with handsome legs and curly hair.  One said he was no relation to the Earl of Dorincourt at all, but was a small impostor who had sold newspapers and slept in the streets of New York before his mother imposed upon the family lawyer, who came to America to look for the Earl’s heir.  Then came the descriptions of the new Lord Fauntleroy and his mother.  Sometimes she was a gypsy, sometimes an actress, sometimes a beautiful Spaniard; but it was always agreed that the Earl of Dorincourt was her deadly enemy, and would not acknowledge her son as his heir if he could help it, and as there seemed to be some slight flaw in the papers she had produced, it was expected that there would be a long trial, which would be far more interesting than anything ever carried into court before.  Mr. Hobbs used to read the papers until his head was in a whirl, and in the evening he and Dick would talk it all over.  They found out what an important personage an Earl of Dorincourt was, and what a magnificent income he possessed, and how many estates he owned, and how stately and beautiful was the Castle in which he lived; and the more they learned, the more excited they became.