Маленький Лорд Фаунтлерой. Уровень 1 / Little Lord Fauntleroy
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The Earl sank back into his chair. His deep-set fierce old eyes gleamed under his brows.
“Come, now!” he said, still breathlessly. “Come, now! You don’t mean the mother hasn’t told him?”
“Not one word, my lord,” replied the lawyer calmly. “That I can assure you. The child is prepared to believe you to be the most friendly and loving of grandparents. Nothing-absolutely nothing has been said to him to give him the slightest doubt of your perfection. And as I carried out your commands in every detail, while in New York, he certainly regards you as a wonder of generosity.”
“He does, eh?” said the Earl.
“I give you my word of honor,” said Mr. Havisham, “that Lord Fauntleroy’s impressions of you will depend entirely upon yourself. And if you will pardon the liberty I take in making the suggestion, I think you will succeed better with him if you take the precaution not to speak badly of his mother.”
V
It was late in the afternoon when the carriage with little Lord Fauntleroy and Mr. Havisham drove up the long road which led to the castle.
When the carriage reached the great gates of the park, Cedric looked out of the window to get a good view of the huge stone lions ornamenting the entrance. The gates were opened by a motherly, rosy-looking woman, who came out of a pretty lodge.
The carriage rolled on and on between the great, beautiful trees which grew on each side of the road and stretched their broad, swaying branches in an arch across it. Cedric had never seen such trees, – they were so grand and stately, and their branches grew so low down. Every few minutes he saw something new to wonder at and admire. When he caught sight of the deer, some couched in the grass, some standing with their pretty antlered heads turned toward the road as the carriage wheels disturbed them, he was enchanted.
It was not long after this that they saw the castle. It stood up before them stately and beautiful and gray, the last rays of the sun casting dazzling lights on its many windows. Cedric saw the great entrance-door thrown open and many servants standing in two lines looking at him. He wondered why they were standing there. He did not know that they were there to do honor to the little boy to whom all of this would one day belong. At the head of the line of servants there stood an elderly woman in a rich, plain black silk gown; she had gray hair and wore a cap. As he entered the hall she stood nearer than the rest, and the child thought from the look in her eyes that she was going to speak to him. Mr. Havisham, who held his hand, paused for a moment.
“This is Lord Fauntleroy, Mrs. Mellon,” he said. “Lord Fauntleroy, this is Mrs. Mellon, who is the housekeeper.”
Cedric gave her his hand, his eyes lighting up.
“Was it you who sent the cat?” he said. “I’m much obliged to you, ma’am.”
Mrs. Mellon’s handsome old face looked as pleased as the face of the lodge-keeper’s wife had done. She smiled down on him.
“The cat left two beautiful kittens here,” she said; “they will be sent up to your lordship’s nursery.”
Mr. Havisham said a few words to her in a low voice.
“In the library, sir,” Mrs. Mellon replied. “His lordship is to be taken there alone.”
A few minutes later, the very tall footman, who had escorted Cedric to the library door, opened it and announced: “Lord Fauntleroy, my lord,” in quite a majestic tone.
Cedric walked into the room. It was a very large and wonderful room, with massive carven furniture in it, and shelves upon shelves of books. For a moment Cedric thought there was nobody in the room, but soon he saw that by the fire burning on the wide hearth there was a large easy-chair and that in that chair someone was sitting-someone who did not at first turn to look at him.
But he had attracted attention in one quarter at least. On the floor, by the armchair, lay a dog, a huge tawny mastiff, with body and limbs almost as big as a lion’s; and this great creature stood up majestically and slowly, and marched toward the little fellow with a heavy step.
Then the person in the chair spoke. “Dougal,” he called, “come back, sir.”
But there was no more fear in little Lord Fauntleroy’s heart than there was unkindness-he had been a brave little fellow all his life. He put his hand on the big dog’s collar in the most natural way in the world, and they strayed forward together, Dougal sniffing as he went.
And then the Earl looked up. What Cedric saw was a large old man with shaggy white hair and eyebrows, and a nose like an eagle’s beak [53] between his deep, fierce eyes. There was a sudden glow of triumph in the fiery old Earl’s heart as he saw what a strong, beautiful boy this grandson was, and how unhesitatingly he looked up as he stood with his hand on the big dog’s neck.
Cedric looked at him just as he had looked at the woman at the lodge and at the housekeeper, and came quite close to him.
53
eagle’s beak –
“Are you the Earl?” he said. “I’m your grandson, you know, that Mr. Havisham brought. I’m Lord Fauntleroy.”
He held out his hand because he thought it must be the polite and proper thing to do even with earls. “I hope you are very well,” he continued, with extreme friendliness. “I’m very glad to see you.”
The Earl shook hands with him, with an interesting gleam in his eyes; just at first, he was so astonished [54] that he hardly knew what to say.
54
astonished – пораженный, восхищенный
There was a chair near him, and Cedric sat down on it.
“I’ve kept wondering what you would look like,” he remarked. “I used to lie in my bed on the ship and wonder if you would be anything like my father.”
“Am I?” asked the Earl.
“Well,” Cedric replied, “I was very young when he died, and I may not remember exactly how he looked, but I don’t think you are like him.”
“You are disappointed, I suppose?” suggested his grandfather.
“Oh, no,” responded Cedric politely. “Of course you would like anyone to look like your father; but of course you would enjoy the way your grandfather looked, even if he wasn’t like your father. You know how it is yourself about admiring your relations.”