Little Lord Fauntleroy Page #2

Mrs. Errol, you must remember

that I'm acting quite impersonally

and simply as the lawyer of the earl of Dorincourt.

The earl of Dorincourt disowned his son

and has refused to recognize

his grandson until now.

Why should I give up my boy?

I'm afraid I've been very stupid,

Mrs. Errol. I should have told you.

My instructions are that you shall accompany

Lord Fauntleroy to England. - Oh!

However, I must remind you that Lord

Dorincourt is not very friendly towards you.

He's an old man and has always

had very strong prejudices

against America and Americans and was

bitterly opposed to his son's marriage.

He's fixed in his determination

not to see you.

You will live at the lodge and a suitable

income will be provided for you.

The only stipulation is that you make no attempt

to visit your son in the castle,

nor even enter the Park Gates.

There's your sister, Mary.

Hello, Bridget. Why, what's the matter?

It's Michael! He's worse and we've no

money we can't pay the rent.

I don't know what...

- Now, Bridget, I've

more important things to attend to!

I wonder what your husband's wishes

would have been in this matter?

You knew my husband?

Yes, I knew Captain Errol well

and liked him, as everybody did.

He was greatly attached to his old home.

- Yes, I know.

He, above everyone, would have appreciated

what this means to your son

the very great advantages he'll have.

Yes, you're right.

My husband would have wished it.

Mr. Havisham, I must ask you to let me

tell Ceddie about this in my own way

and in my very own time. He must never

know his grandfather dislikes me.

If he did, it would make it harder

for them to be friends.

Very well. Your son will thank you

for this when he is a man.

I hope his grandfather will love Ceddie.

He has a very affectionate nature

and he's always been loved.

This is Mr. Havisham, dear, whom your

grandfather sent to see us,

all the way from England.

How do you do, sir?

- So this is little Lord Fauntleroy.

You see, dear, your grandfather has no

more children now, and he's very lonely.

So he wants us to go

and live with him in England.

Because he's an earl and you're his heir,

you will have a new name - Lord Fauntleroy.

And someday you will be

the earl of Dorincourt.

Oh, Dearest, do I have to be an earl?

None of the boys are earls.

Can't I not be one? - I'm afraid it can't

be helped, dear.

Just think, dear,

soon we'll be starting for England.

Do we have to go to England, Dearest?

I'd much rather not.

Oh! What will Mr. Hobbs say?

Anything else ma'am?

- How much is your table butter?

13 cents a pound.

- 13! The last I bought was 12,5 cents.

Must've been last month. It's 13 today.

- Oh, indeed. Well, never mind the butter.

Heavens and earth, if the prices go any

higher, we'll all starve to death!

Good day!

- Good day, ma'am.

Hello, Ceddie. What's the matter?

Mr. Hobbs, do you remember what we were

talking about yesterday morning?

It seems to me we was

talkin' about England.

Yes, yes and earls. Don't you remember?

Oh, yes, we did touch 'em up a little.

That's so.

You said you wouldn't have them sitting

around your cracker barrels.

So I did and I meant it too!

Just let them try it, that's all!

Mr. Hobbs, one is sitting on this barrel now.

What?

- Yes.

I'm one or I'm going to be.

I won't deceive you, Mr. Hobbs.

It's the heat!

It is a hot day.

How do ya feel? Got any pain?

Thank you, I'm all right.

I'm sorry to say it's true, Mr. Hobbs.

Mr. Havisham, he's a lawyer, came all the way

from England to tell us about it.

My grandfather sent him.

Who is your grandfather?

I couldn't very easily remember it,

so I wrote it down.

John Arthur Molyneux Errol,

earl of Dorincourt.

That's his name, and he lives in a castle

'er two or three castles, I think.

All his sons have died now. That's why I

shall be an earl. Now I'm Lord Fauntleroy.

Well, I'll be jiggered.

One of us has got a sunstroke.

Oh, no, we haven't. We'll have

to make the best of it, Mr. Hobbs.

What did you say your name was?

- Cedric Errol Lord Fauntleroy.

Well, I am jiggered.

Well... you always did talk

more English than American.

You think there's no getting out of it?

I'm afraid not, Mr. Hobbs.

Dearest says that Father

would wish me to do it

but if I have to be an earl,

I can try to be a good one.

I'm not going to be a tyrant, Mr. Hobbs

and if there's ever to be another war

with America, I shall try and stop it.

England's a long way off, isn't it?

It's across the Atlantic Ocean.

That's the worst of it. Perhaps

I shan't see you for a long time.

I don't like to think about that, Mr. Hobbs.

Well... the best of friends must part.

I'm afraid, Mr. Havisham, our American

food must seem very strange for you.

A little, ma'am. I find that muffins are

biscuits, and biscuits are cookies

but the cooking's excellent.

And after all, it's the company that

makes the meal exquisite, not the food.

Thank you, Mr. Havisham.

When you're an earl, you'll give splendid

dinners in one of the most beautiful castles

in England.

Do you know, I'm not sure I know

exactly what an earl is?

If anybody's going to be one,

he ought to know, don't you?

Would you mind explaining it to me?

Well, someone is made an earl generally

because he's done some service

to his sovereign or some great deed.

- Oh, that's like the president!

Oh, is it? Is that why

your presidents are elected?

Yes, sir, When a man's very good and

knows a great deal, he's elected president.

And they have torchlight processions, and

bands, and everybody makes speeches.

I used to think I might like to be president

but never thought of being an earl.

No, being an earl is rather different

from being a president.

An earl is generally

of very ancient lineage.

Uh, what's that?

A very old family - extremely old.

Oh, that's like the apple woman.

She's a hundred, I should think.

She's of such ancient lineage, it'd

surprise you how she can stand up.

You feel sorry for anyone who's so poor

and has such ancient lineage.

She says hers has gone into her bones

and rain makes it worse. - Ha, ha, ha.

When I said ancient lineage,

I didn't mean old age.

The first earl of Dorincourt was created

an earl hundreds of years ago.

Well, that was a long time ago,

wasn't it Dearest? - Yes, dear.

Many earls have been very brave men

and have fought in great battles.

I should like to do it myself.

My father was a soldier and a very brave

man as brave as George Washington.

I'm glad earls are brave.

That's a great 'vantage.

Would you excuse me a moment, please?

There's someone I must see. - Oh, certainly.

There's, um, there's another

advantage of being an earl.

Some of them have a great deal of money.

That's a good thing to have. I wish I had

a great deal of money. - Do you? Why?

There's so many things

a person can do with money.

If I were rich, I'd buy the apple

woman a tent to put her stall in

and a stove. I'd give her a shawl, because

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