human
Well, it went off well; it was a pretty wedding,
gpt
You think Ina was pleased? he said.
human
It was all as she wished it to be?
gpt
What could a girl have wished more? cried Anna.
human
Everything was charming, just as it should be. All I think about is--
gpt
What?
human
We have danced, said Anna.
gpt
What I want to know is, is the piper to be paid, or shall we have to dance to another tune by way of reprisal.
human
The piper is paid,
gpt
How?
human
Yes, you are quite right, Arthur, said she.
gpt
I am afraid. You are, or may reasonably be, rather a desperate man. You have never taken quite kindly to straits. If the piper is paid, I want to know how, for my own peace of mind. By the piper I mean the creditors for all this --she glanced around the room--
human
I earned enough honestly,
gpt
How?
human
You had better not press the matter, Anna.
gpt
I do. I am afraid. She responded to his look with a certain bitter, sarcastic insistence.
human
I have reason to be, said she.
gpt
You know I have, Arthur Carroll. We are all on the edge of a precipice, but I, for one, do not intend to let you drag me over, and I do not intend that Amy and the children shall go, either, if I can help it. I want to know where you got the money to pay for the wedding expenses, and I want to know where you got that pearl ring you gave Ina. It never cost a cent under three hundred dollars.
human
It was then, said she,
gpt
Hart Lee's pearl that he left you when he died--your scarf-pin.
human
I noticed that you had not worn it lately,
gpt
Sooner or later it would have been the child's. It might as well be sooner,
human
Eddy should have had it,
gpt
That child?
human
When he was older, of course.
gpt
That is a long way ahead,
human
Arthur, said she, solemnly,
gpt
I am living with you and doing all I am able. I am giving my strength for you and yours. You know that as well as I do. You know upon whom the brunt here falls. I do not complain. The one who has the best strength should bear the burden, and I have the strength, such as it is. None of us Carrolls need brag of strength, God knows. But I want to know how you came by that money. Yes, I suspect, and I am not ashamed. I have a right to suspect. How did you get that money?
human
I sang and danced for it in a music-hall, blackened up as a negro,
gpt
Then that was you, Arthur!
human
Yes. It was the one thing I could do to get that money honestly and pay the bills, and I did it. I would not let Arms pay.
gpt
I should think not, cried Anna.
human
We have not fallen quite so low as that yet. But you--
gpt
Yes, I, said Carroll.
human
Now let us go to bed, Anna.
gpt
Good-night, Arthur,