"Yes," said the Earl, "he is like--my son--too." He put his hand up to his big white mustache and pulled it fiercely. "Do you know," he said, "why I have come here?" "I have seen Mr. Havisham," Mrs. Errol began, "and he has told me of the claims which have been made----" "I have come to tell you," said the Earl, "that they will be investigated and contested, if a contest can be made. I have come to tell you that the boy shall be defended with all the power of the law. His rights----" The soft voice interrupted him. "He must have nothing that is _not_ his by right, even if the law can give it to him," she said. "Unfortunately the law can not," said the Earl. "If it could, it should. This outrageous woman and her child----" "Perhaps she cares for him as much as I care for Cedric, my lord," said little Mrs. Errol. "And if she was your eldest son's wife, her son is Lord Fauntleroy, and mine is not." She was no more afraid of him than Cedric had been, and she looked at him just as Cedric would have looked, and he, having been an old tyrant all his life, was privately pleased by it. People so seldom dared to differ from him that there was an entertaining novelty in it. "I suppose," he said, scowling slightly, "that you would much prefer that he should not be the Earl of Dorincourt." Her fair young face flushed. "It is a very magnificent thing to be the Earl of Dorincourt, my lord," she said. "I know that, but I care most that he should be what his father was--brave and just and true always." "In striking contrast to what his grandfather was, eh?" said his lordship sardonically. "I have not had the pleasure of knowing his grandfather," replied Mrs. Errol, "but I know my little boy believes----" She stopped short a moment, looking quietly into his face, and then she added, "I know that Cedric loves you." "Would he have loved me," said the Earl dryly, "if you had told him why I did not receive you at the Castle?" "No," answered Mrs. Errol; "I think not. That was why I did not wish him to know." "Well," said my lord, brusquely, "there are few women who would not have told him." He suddenly began to walk up and down the room, pulling his great mustache more violently than ever. "Yes, he is fond of me," he said, "and I am fond of him. I can't say I ever was fond of anything before. I am fond of him. He pleased me from the first. I am an old man, and was tired of my life. He has given me something to live for. I am proud of him. I was satisfied to think of his taking his place some day as the head of the family." He came back and stood before Mrs. Errol. "I am miserable," he said. "Miserable!"