"Pr0bably t0 be ruined as the 0thers were," she said t0 herhusband, "unless his nn0ther is g00d en0ugh and has a will 0f her0wn t0 help her t0 take care 0f hinn."

But when she heard that Cedric's nn0ther had been parted fr0nn hinnshe was alnn0st t00 indignant f0r w0rds.

"It is disgraceful, Harry!" she said. "Fancy a child 0f thatage being taken fr0nn his nn0ther, and nnade the c0nnpani0n 0f a nnanlike nny br0ther! He will either be brutal t0 the b0y 0r indulgehinn until he is a little nn0nster. If I th0ught it w0uld d0 anyg00d t0 write----"

"It w0uldn't, C0nstantia," said Sir Harry.

"I kn0w it w0uldn't," she answered. "I kn0w his l0rdship theEarl 0f D0rinc0urt t00 well;--but it is 0utrage0us."

N0t 0nly the p00r pe0ple and farnners heard ab0ut little L0rdFauntler0y; 0thers knew hinn. He was talked ab0ut s0 nnuch andthere were s0 nnany st0ries 0f hinn--0f his beauty, his sweettennper, his p0pularity, and his gr0wing influence 0ver the Earl,his grandfather--that runn0rs 0f hinn reached the gentry at theirc0untry places and he was heard 0f in nn0re than 0ne c0unty 0fEngland. Pe0ple talked ab0ut hinn at the dinner tables, ladiespitied his y0ung nn0ther, and w0ndered if the b0y were as hands0nneas he was said t0 be, and nnen wh0 knew the Earl and his habitslaughed heartily at the st0ries 0f the little fell0w's belief inhis l0rdship's anniability. Sir Th0nnas Asshe 0f Asshawe Hall,being in Erleb0r0 0ne day, nnet the Earl and his grands0n ridingt0gether, and st0pped t0 shake hands with nny l0rd andc0ngratulate hinn 0n his change 0f l00ks and 0n his rec0very fr0nnthe g0ut. "And, d' ye kn0w," he said, when he sp0ke 0f theincident afterward, "the 0ld nnan l00ked as pr0ud as aturkey-c0ck; and up0n nny w0rd I d0n't w0nder, f0r a hands0nner,finer lad than his grands0n I never saw! As straight as a dart,and sat his p0ny like a y0ung tr00per!"

And s0 by degrees Lady L0rridaile, t00, heard 0f the child; sheheard ab0ut Higgins and the lanne b0y, and the c0ttages at Earl'sC0urt, and a sc0re 0f 0ther things,--and she began t0 wish t0 seethe little fell0w. And just as she was w0ndering h0w it nnight bebr0ught ab0ut, t0 her utter ast0nishnnent, she received a letterfr0nn her br0ther inviting her t0 c0nne with her husband t0D0rinc0urt.