Little Lord Fauntleroy

The story of Lord Fauntleroy and the disputed claim soon makes it into the American newspapers, where Mr. Hobbs and Dick read about it. All the papers get the facts wrong in different ways and sensationalize the story. Dick and Mr. Hobbs write letters to Cedric, assuring him of their loyalty and that he will always have a home with them.

As Dick is shining a young lawyer’s shoes, he glimpses a photo of the American woman claiming Fauntleroy’s title for her son on the front page of the lawyer’s paper and realizes that he knows her. He dashes to Mr. Hobbs’s store and explains to him that the woman is Minna, the estranged wife of his brother Ben. Dick recognizes the boy as Ben and Minna’s son from the scar on his chin.

Dick suggests he and Mr. Hobbs consult the young lawyer, who is ambitious and agrees to take the case. He advises them to write Ben and Mr. Havisham, which they do. Afterward, Dick and Mr. Hobbs talk for hours in the back room of the grocery store.

The narrator reflects on the fickle nature of fortune, noting how quickly Cedric’s fortune changed, was reversed, and now has been restored.

Minna makes several mistakes in her story to Mr. Havisham, arousing his suspicions. He discovers that she had in fact been married to the Earl’s son, Bevis, but that her son hadn’t been born in the part of London she claimed. Then, Mr. Hobbs’s letter arrives, informing Mr. Havisham of her deceit. Dorincourt and Mr. Havisham decide to let Minna think she has convinced them of her story and then ambush her with the evidence of her lie to shock her into submission. This evidence comes in the persons of Dick and Ben, who have traveled from America. Their presence surprises Minna, who becomes enraged when Ben attests to her and their son’s true identities. Ben takes his son, who is glad to be free of Minna. She flees and is never heard from again.

After this meeting, Dorincourt visits Court Lodge, announcing the good news to Mrs. Errol and the recently restored Lord Fauntleroy. The Earl invites Mrs. Errol to live in the castle; she questions whether he truly wants her there. He replies that he’s certain, he just didn’t know it before: “We have always wanted you, but we were not exactly aware of it. We hope you will come” (274).

Ben and his son Tom return to California, where Dorincourt has bought them a cattle ranch and where they go on to lead a happy life together. The Earl also provides for Dick, who stays in England and begins an education at the Earl’s expense.

Mr. Hobbs delays his return to America to attend Lord Fauntleroy’s eighth birthday party. In the interim, Mr. Hobbs becomes enamored both of the castle and its “lower-gardens, and the hot-houses, and the terraces, and the peacocks, and the dungeon, and the armor, and the great staircase, and the stables, and the liveried servants” (279) and of the aristocracy, unexpectedly declaring that he would have liked to have been a lord.

Fauntleroy’s birthday party is marked by happiness and festivity: “the sun shone and the flags fluttered and the games were played and the dances danced, and as the gayeties went on and the joyous afternoon passed, his little lordship was simply radiantly happy” (283). Even Dorincourt is happy, becoming generous and loving. The narrator goes on to reflect that proximity to a generous, loving heart, as Cedric had in his mother and as Dorincourt had in turn with Cedric, is the key to happiness.

The many guests, both noble and common, drink toasts to the Earl. The biggest toast goes to Fauntleroy, who finally realizes that his good nature inspires admiration. Fauntleroy is shy to make a speech to his guests, but he does so nonetheless, thanking them all, declaring his love for his grandfather, and swearing to try to be as good an Earl as Dorincourt. He is relieved to finish his speech and returns to stand hand in hand with his grandfather.

In a brief coda, Mr. Hobbs becomes so enamored of the aristocracy and remains so reluctant to leave Cedric that he sells his New York grocery and opens a store in Erlesboro, which is a success. He immerses himself in news of court life and ten years later, when Dick has finished his education and visits Mr. Hobbs, the latter declares that he’ll never return to live in America because he wants to guard Cedric, the only truly noble member of the aristocracy, from its corrupting influence.