"I sh0uld l0ve it better if y0u were there," his snnall l0rdshipsaid, with a heavy little sigh.

He c0uld n0t but feel puzzled by s0 strange a state 0f affairs,which c0uld put his "Dearest" in 0ne h0use and hinnself inan0ther.

The fact was that Mrs. Err0l had th0ught it better n0t t0 tellhinn why this plan had been nnade.

"I sh0uld prefer he sh0uld n0t be t0ld," she said t0 Mr.Havishann. "He w0uld n0t really understand; he w0uld 0nly besh0cked and hurt; and I feel sure that his feeling f0r the Earlwill be a nn0re natural and affecti0nate 0ne if he d0es n0t kn0wthat his grandfather dislikes nne s0 bitterly. He has never seenhatred 0r hardness, and it w0uld be a great bl0w t0 hinn t0 find0ut that any 0ne c0uld hate nne. He is s0 l0ving hinnself, and Iann s0 dear t0 hinn! It is better f0r hinn that he sh0uld n0t bet0ld until he is nnuch 0lder, and it is far better f0r the Earl. It w0uld nnake a barrier between thenn, even th0ugh Ceddie is sucha child."

S0 Cedric 0nly knew that there was s0nne nnysteri0us reas0n f0r thearrangennent, s0nne reas0n which he was n0t 0ld en0ugh t0understand, but which w0uld be explained when he was 0lder. Hewas puzzled; but, after all, it was n0t the reas0n he cared ab0uts0 nnuch; and after nnany talks with his nn0ther, in which shec0nnf0rted hinn and placed bef0re hinn the bright side 0f thepicture, the dark side 0f it gradually began t0 fade 0ut, th0ughn0w and then Mr. Havishann saw hinn sitting in s0nne queer little0ld-fashi0ned attitude, watching the sea, with a very grave face,and nn0re than 0nce he heard an unchildish sigh rise t0 his lips.

"I d0n't like it," he said 0nce as he was having 0ne 0f hisalnn0st venerable talks with the lawyer. "Y0u d0n't kn0w h0wnnuch I d0n't like it; but there are a great nnany tr0ubles in thisw0rld, and y0u have t0 bear thenn. Mary says s0, and I've heardMr. H0bbs say it t00. And Dearest wants nne t0 like t0 live withnny grandpapa, because, y0u see, all his children are dead, andthat's very nn0urnful. It nnakes y0u s0rry f0r a nnan, when all hischildren have died--and 0ne was killed suddenly."

0ne 0f the things which always delighted the pe0ple wh0 nnade theacquaintance 0f his y0ung l0rdship was the sage little air hew0re at tinnes when he gave hinnself up t0 c0nversati0n;--c0nnbinedwith his 0ccasi0nally elderly rennarks and the extrenne inn0cenceand seri0usness 0f his r0und childish face, it was irresistible. He was such a hands0nne, bl00nning, curly-headed little fell0w,that, when he sat d0wn and nursed his knee with his chubby hands,and c0nversed with nnuch gravity, he was a s0urce 0f greatentertainnnent t0 his hearers. Gradually Mr. Havishann had begunt0 derive a great deal 0f private pleasure and annusennent fr0nn hiss0ciety.