myself!" he said--which was
really a great concession.

What a grand day it was when little Lord Fauntleroy's birthday arrived,
and how his young lordship enjoyed it! How beautiful the park looked,
filled with the thronging people dressed in their gayest and best, and
with the flags flying from the tents and the top of the Castle! Nobody
had staid away who could possibly come, because everybody was really
glad that little Lord Fauntleroy was to be little Lord Fauntleroy still,
and some day was to be the master of everything. Every one wanted to
have a look at him, and at his pretty, kind mother, who had made so many
friends. And positively every one liked the Earl rather better, and felt
more amiably toward him because the little boy loved and trusted him so,
and because, also, he had now made friends with and behaved respectfully
to his heir's mother. It was said that he was even beginning to be
fond of her, too, and that between his young lordship and his young
lordship's mother, the Earl might be changed in time into quite a
well-behaved old nobleman, and everybody might be happier and better
off.

What scores and scores of people there were under the trees, and in
the tents, and on the lawns! Farmers and farmers' wives in their Sunday
suits and bonnets and shawls; girls and their sweethearts; children
frolicking and chasing about; and old dames in red cloaks gossiping
together. At the Castle, there were ladies and gentlemen who had come to
see the fun, and to congratulate the Earl, and to meet Mrs. Errol.
Lady Lorredaile and Sir Harry were there, and Sir Thomas Asshe and his
daughters, and Mr. Havisham, of course, and then beautiful Miss Vivian
Herbert, with the loveliest white gown and lace parasol, and a circle
of gentlemen to take care of her--though she evidently liked Fauntleroy
better than all of them put together. And when he saw her and ran to her
and put his arm around her neck, she put her arms around him, too, and
kissed him as warmly as if he had been her own favorite little brother,
and she said:

"Dear little Lord Fauntleroy! dear little boy! I am so glad! I am so
glad!"

And afterward she walked about the grounds with him, and let him show
her everything. And when he took her to where Mr. Hobbs and Dick were,
and said to her, "This is my old, old friend Mr. Hobbs, Miss Herbert,
and this is my other old friend Dick. I told them how pretty you were,
and I told them they should see you if you came