human
But you may take the fever,
gpt
Are you tired of life?
human
I? Yes. It is absurd. I have no place in it, no tie, nothing to bind me to my fellows or my race. What do they care for a faded, fretful woman?
gpt
You know how your friends care for you, Valeria. You know, for instance, what you have been in my life.
human
Ah, my dear, I _don't_ know! I have a wretched longing for some strong, absorbing affection, something paramount, satisfying. I envy you your devotion to that poor little child; you can shew it, you can express it, and you have the child's love in return. But I, who want much more than that, shall never get even that. I threw away the chance when I had it, and now I shall end my days, starving.
gpt
I fear Professor Fortescue is very ill,
human
I fear he is,
gpt
If--if he were to die----
human
Surely there is no danger of that!
gpt
Of course there is: he told me that he did not expect to recover.
human
Ah, Hadria, you will understand, you will not despise me--you will only be sorry for me--why should I not tell you? It is eating my heart out--have you never suspected, never guessed----?
gpt
I think I have known without knowing that I knew. It wanted just these words of yours to light up the knowledge. Oh, Valeria, have you carried this burden for all these years?
human
Ever since I first met him, which was just before he met his wife. I knew, from the first, that it was hopeless. He introduced her to me shortly after his engagement. He was wrapped up in her. With him, it was once and for all. He is not the man to fall in love and out of it, over and over again. We were alike in that. With me, too, it was once for all. Oh, the irony of life! Valeria went on with an outburst of energy,
gpt
I was doomed to doom others to similar loss; others have felt for me, in vain, what I, in vain, felt for him! I sent them all away, because I could not bring myself to endure the thought of marrying any other man, and so I pass my days alone--a waif and stray, without anything or anyone to live for.
human
At least you have your work to live for, which is to live for many, instead of for one or two.
gpt
Ah, that does not satisfy the heart.
human
What _does_?