human
See now, she went on, almost fiercely;
gpt
A little; from Father Joly.
human
Papa thinks he has behaved dishonourably, and will scarcely allow his name to be uttered until he shall return from the army, having redeemed his fault. Papa, though he seems easy, can be very stern on all questions of honour. Well, when Armand and I were children, we played with the two Guyon boys. Their father, Bonhomme Guyon, was only my father's farmer; but in a lonely place like Boisveyrac, and with no one to instruct us in difference of rank and birth--for my mother died when I was a baby--
gpt
I understand, mademoiselle.
human
And so we played about the farm, as children will. But by and by, and a short while before I left Boisveyrac to go to school with the Ursulines, Dominique began to be--what shall I say? He was very tiresome.
gpt
I understand, repeated John quietly.
human
At first I did not guess what he meant. And the others, of course, did not guess. But he was furiously jealous, even of his brother, poor Bateese. And when Bateese met with his accident--
gpt
One moment, mademoiselle. When Bateese fell between the logs, was it because Dominique had pushed him?
human
You guessed that? How did you guess? No one knows it but I, and Father Launoy, no doubt, and perhaps Father Joly. But Dominique knows that _I_ know; and his misery seems to give him some hold over me.
gpt
In what way can I help you, mademoiselle?
human
Did I ask you to help me? She had resumed her seat on the gun-carriage and, drawing Sergeant Barboux's tunic off its gun, began with her embroidery scissors to snip at the shanks of its breast-buttons. His cheeks were burning now; she spoke with a trained accent of levity.
gpt
I called you, monsieur, to say that I cannot, of course, copy these buttons, and to ask if you consent to my using them on your new tunic, or if you prefer to put up with plain ones. But it appears that I have wandered to some distance from my question.
human
Decidedly I prefer any buttons to those. But, excuse me, persisted John, drawing nearer,
gpt
Oh, she replied, still in the same tone of hard, almost contemptuous, levity.
human
I had a whim, monsieur, to be understood by you, that is all; and perhaps to rebuke you by contrast for telling us so little of yourself. It is as Felicite said--you messieurs of the army keep yourselves well padded over the heart. See here--
gpt
What is the matter, mademoiselle?
human
This is the matter! she cried, plunging her fingers within the lining.
gpt
A dispatch! He carried one after all!
human
Give it to me, please. But I say that you must and shall, mademoiselle!