“No,” said Mr. Havisham. “I have another message, which will prove to you that she has not done that.”
“I don’t want to hear it!” panted the Earl, out of breath with anger and excitement and gout.
But Mr. Havisham delivered it.
“She asks you not to let Lord Fauntleroy hear anything which would lead him to understand that you separate him from her because of your prejudice against her. He is very fond of her, and she is convinced that it would cause a barrier to exist between you. She has told him that he is too young to understand the reason, but shall hear it when he is older. She wishes that there should be no shadow on your first meeting.”
The Earl sank back into his chair. His [deep-set] fierce old eyes gleamed under his [beetling] brows.
“Come, now!” he said, still breathlessly. “Come, now! You don’t mean the mother hasn’t told him?”
“Not one word, my lord,” replied the lawyer coolly. “That I can assure you. The child is prepared to believe you the most amiable and affectionate of grandparents. And as I carried out your commands in every detail, while in New York, he certainly regards you as a wonder of generosity.”
“He does, eh?” said the Earl.
“I give you my word of honour,” said Mr. Havisham, “that Lord Fauntleroy’s impressions of you will depend entirely upon yourself. And if you will pardon the liberty I take in making the suggestion, I think you will succeed better with him if you take the precaution not to speak slightingly of his mother.”
“Pooh, pooh!” said the Earl. “The youngster’s only seven years old!”