human
You thought, she said, almost sternly,
gpt
No,
human
I can hardly wonder, she continued, more sadly,
gpt
Why separate the two?
human
I _must_ separate them, she answered, with the air of one driven to bay by her own self-reproaching.
gpt
I had, like other young girls, my dream of love and marriage. Unlike all the rest, I believe, my visions were fulfilled. The reality was more than the imagination; and I thought it would be so with my love for my child. The first cry of that baby told the difference to my ear. I knew it all from that moment; the bliss which had been mine as a wife would never be mine as a mother. If I had not known what it was to love my husband, I might have been content with my love for Marian. But look at that exquisite creature as she lies there asleep, and then think that I, her mother, should desert her if she were dying, for aught I know, at one word from him!
human
Your feeling is morbid,
gpt
What good does it serve to know that? she said, defiantly.
human
I say it to myself every day. Once when she was ill, and was given back to me in all the precious helplessness of babyhood, there was such a strange sweetness in it, I thought the charm might remain; but it vanished when she could run about once more. And she is such a healthy, self-reliant little thing,
gpt
I wish her to be so, she added.
human
The best service I can do for her is to teach her to stand alone. And at some day, continued the beautiful woman, her whole face lighting up with happiness,
gpt
And your husband, I said, after a pause,--
human
My husband, she said,
gpt
And his heart?
human
Heart? she answered.
gpt
He loves _me_.