Cedric says goodbye to his mother, who nobly gives him up so that he can have the advantage of being brought up as a Lord by his grandfather, the Earl.
As a child, I didn’t get along well with my mother, who was overwhelmed with caring for lots of children, including one with special needs, mostly alone. I used to take refuge with book mothers, who always seemed angelic. Little Lord Fauntleroy (who by the way is an American! Did you know that?) calls his mother Dearest, which is enough to make most modern children gag; however, it appealed to Victorian mothers so much that quite a few actually dressed their boys like this:
A child in the 1888 theatrical version of Little Lord Fauntleroy
Most of those Victorian angel mothers, I now know, had servants. They never had to wash dishes, go to the grocery store, change diapers or stand over a hot stove. Much easier for your child to adore you when it sees you in the drawing room for an hour or two a day!
