In the 1880s Brooklyn, young Cedric Errol, affectionately called Ceddie, and his widowed mother, referred to as “Dearest,” live in modest circumstances following the passing of his father. Cedric’s grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, had previously cut ties with his son due to his marriage to an American woman. However, after the Earl’s last surviving son dies, he chooses to acknowledge Cedric as Lord Fauntleroy, making him his heir.