6 The Earl’s Grandson

CHAPTER 6 The Earl's Grandson Cedric's first morning in the castle was a curious one. As he was waking up, he heard two women talking. Neither one was Dearest. One woman was telling the other to be careful not to say a word, but about what? He opened his eyes. "Good morning, my lord," said a gentle voice. "Did you sleep well?" Cedric said he had. But he didn't say how much he had missed Dearest, or how he wondered how she was doing this morning,

waking up in the lodge by herself. One of the women left to do the housekeeping, but the other woman stayed. Her name was Dawson. She was there to take care of him, she explained. "Will you get up and let me dress you, and have your breakfast in the nursery?" "I learned how to dress myself years ago," Cedric said politely. "But thank you for offering. Dearest taught me. I can do it myself, except sometimes I need a little help with the buttons." At last he was dressed and having his breakfast in the nursery. He asked Dawson many questions about her life. He found out that Dawson's husband had been a soldier and had died in battle. Her son was a sailor and had seen practically the whole world. Dawson had taken care of little children all her life. Soon enough, they were great

friends. Cedric could see that there was another room next to the nursery, and another one next to that. There were so many rooms in this giant house, he could hardly imagine counting them all. "I'm so little to live in such a big castle, don't you think?" he asked Dawson. "Oh, you'll like it here soon enough," Dawson told him. "It only feels strange at first." "What feels the strangest is being apart from Dearest," Cedric said. "I miss her. I always had my breakfast with her. I put the sugar and cream in her tea, and I handed her the toast." "But you can see her every day," Dawson assured him. "And you will have so much to tell her once you see the dogs and the horses... and you haven't even seen what's in the

next room." Cedric couldn't help but be curious. "What's in there?" he asked. "You must finish your breakfast first, and then I will show you," Dawson teased. Cedric ate quickly. When he was at last finished, Dawson took him to the next room. The room was filled with the most spectacular toys a boy could imagine. Cedric had seen such toys—but only in store windows in New York. He had never had any of his own to play with. "Whose toys are these?" Cedric asked. He wondered if he might be able to play with some of them. Dawson laughed. "Don't you know?" she said. "They're all yours!" "But who gave them to me? Was it my grandfather? Oh, it was, wasn't it? It had to be!"

"Yes, it was," Dawson said. "And if you're a good boy, this won't be all he'll give you. He'll give you anything you want." Cedric could scarcely imagine such a thing. The room full of toys was more than enough. He couldn't wait to tell Dearest all about them. "Did you ever know anyone who had such a kind grandfather?" he asked Dawson as he found a game board to play with.

Dawson made a strange face. It seemed like she wanted to say something, but she didn't. The truth was, Dawson didn't have a high opinion of the earl. She'd only been working in his house for a short time and already she'd heard the stories about how mean he was to the servants and the people who lived on his lands. From what Dawson had heard, he was not a kind man at all. But what she and Cedric didn't know was that the earl had not given his grandson this room full of toys to be kind. He wanted the shelves and closets stocked full of amusements. He wanted the boy to have everything he could hope for— every possible distraction. "Give him what will amuse him," the earl had said, "and he will forget his mother soon enough." That was the plan.