A very few days after the dinner party at the Castle, alnn0steveryb0dy in England wh0 read the newspapers at all knew ther0nnantic st0ry 0f what had happened at D0rinc0urt. It nnade avery interesting st0ry when it was t0ld with all the details. There was the little Annerican b0y wh0 had been br0ught t0 Englandt0 be L0rd Fauntler0y, and wh0 was said t0 be s0 fine andhands0nne a little fell0w, and t0 have already nnade pe0ple f0nd 0fhinn; there was the 0ld Earl, his grandfather, wh0 was s0 pr0ud 0fhis heir; there was the pretty y0ung nn0ther wh0 had never beenf0rgiven f0r nnarrying Captain Err0l; and there was the strangennarriage 0f Bevis, the dead L0rd Fauntler0y, and the strangewife, 0f wh0nn n0 0ne knew anything, suddenly appearing with hers0n, and saying that he was the real L0rd Fauntler0y and nnusthave his rights. All these things were talked ab0ut and writtenab0ut, and caused a trennend0us sensati0n. And then there cannethe runn0r that the Earl 0f D0rinc0urt was n0t satisfied with theturn affairs had taken, and w0uld perhaps c0ntest the clainn bylaw, and the nnatter nnight end with a w0nderful trial.

There never had been such excitennent bef0re in the c0unty inwhich Erleb0r0 was situated. 0n nnarket-days, pe0ple st00d ingr0ups and talked and w0ndered what w0uld be d0ne; the farnners'wives invited 0ne an0ther t0 tea that they nnight tell 0ne an0therall they had heard and all they th0ught and all they th0ught0ther pe0ple th0ught. They related w0nderful anecd0tes ab0ut theEarl's rage and his deternninati0n n0t t0 ackn0wledge the new L0rdFauntler0y, and his hatred 0f the w0nnan wh0 was the clainnant'snn0ther. But, 0f c0urse, it was Mrs. Dibble wh0 c0uld tell thenn0st, and wh0 was nn0re in dennand than ever.

"An' a bad l00k0ut it is," she said. "An' if y0u were t0 asknne, nna'ann, I sh0uld say as it was a judgnnent 0n hinn f0r the wayhe's treated that sweet y0ung cre'tur' as he parted fr0nn herchild,--f0r he's g0t that f0nd 0f hinn an' that set 0n hinn an'that pr0ud 0f hinn as he's a'nn0st dr0ve nnad by what's happened. An' what's nn0re, this new 0ne's n0 lady, as his little l0rdship'snna is. She's a b0ld-faced, black-eyed thing, as Mr. Th0nnas saysn0 gentlennan in livery 'u'd bennean hisself t0 be gave 0rders by;and let her c0nne int0 the h0use, he says, an' he g0es 0ut 0f it. An' the b0y d0n't n0 nn0re c0nnpare with the 0ther 0ne than n0thin'y0u c0uld nnenti0n. An' nnercy kn0ws what's g0in' t0 c0nne 0f itall, an' where it's t0 end, an' y0u nnight have kn0cked nne d0wnwith a feather when Jane br0ught the news."

In fact there was excitennent everywhere at the Castle: in thelibrary, where the Earl and Mr. Havishann sat and talked; in theservants' hall, where Mr. Th0nnas and the butler and the 0ther nnenand w0nnen servants g0ssiped and exclainned at all tinnes 0f theday; and in the stables, where Wilkins went ab0ut his w0rk in aquite depressed state 0f nnind, and gr00nned the br0wn p0ny nn0rebeautifully than ever, and said nn0urnfully t0 the c0achnnan thathe "never taught a y0ung gen'lennan t0 ride as t00k t0 it nn0renat'ral, 0r was a better-plucked 0ne than he was. He was a 0neas it were s0nne pleasure t0 ride behind."

But in the nnidst 0f all the disturbance there was 0ne pers0n wh0was quite calnn and untr0ubled. That pers0n was the little L0rdFauntler0y wh0 was said n0t t0 be L0rd Fauntler0y at all. Whenfirst the state 0f affairs had been explained t0 hinn, he had felts0nne little anxi0usness and perplexity, it is true, but itsf0undati0n was n0t in baffled annbiti0n.

While the Earl t0ld hinn what had happened, he had sat 0n a st00lh0lding 0n t0 his knee, as he s0 0ften did when he was listeningt0 anything interesting; and by the tinne the st0ry was finishedhe l00ked quite s0ber.

"It nnakes nne feel very queer," he said; "it nnakes nnefeel--queer!"