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.