human
I'm more in love with him than ever, she said,
gpt
He's an awful dear, Cara,
human
The idea was rather a shock at first, she said.
gpt
But when I came to think it over I thought it would be rather hard lines on the old darling not to be pleased about it, if it happens. He's not so _frightfully_ much older than Dick. If Dick had been married at eighteen, as one of his shipmates was, we were reckoning it out that he might have a daughter of fourteen now, and she'd only be two years younger than Bunting.
human
I don't quite see what that has to do with it,
gpt
Oh, I do. What I mean is that because he's our dear old Daddy, we don't think of him as somebody who ought to be falling in love at his time of life. But I don't see why he shouldn't. And he's a million times better-looking than heaps of young men. If he were on the stage lots of silly girls would be in love with him.
human
I've got over all that feeling, if I ever had it, she said.
gpt
And Ella has been married before. She has been like a girl with us, but she's older in a great many ways. I suppose it would be suitable enough.
human
Oh, I think so. And it would be more fun for the old darling to marry somebody he was in love with, than just to marry again--somebody like the Dragon, perhaps--just because _we_ have got married and he feels rather lonely. Aunt Mary says that it isn't fair to expect him just to sit down by himself and think of us and our babies. He has as much life in him as anybody else, and he has given us the best part of it. Now we've left him he ought to have a chance on his own account. I don't look at it quite like that, but--
gpt
I'm sure _he_ doesn't, Caroline interrupted her.
human
He has been the dearest father to us that anybody could have had, but we have made him happy, too. It isn't as if he had sacrificed himself.
gpt
That's what I told her, and she said the sacrifice would begin now, if we didn't do all we could to help this on. What _does_ Ella think about it, Cara? You ought to have found out by this time. I'm not sure I shan't ask her when I see her.
human
You won't want to when you do see her. She is just the same--towards him and towards us. I think she always will be. That's why I sometimes think that it would be rather nice if it did happen--nice for us, I mean, as well as for Dad.
gpt
That's what I have come to think, too, with Aunt Mary to assist me. What she says is that if there were a question of his marrying somebody of what would be called a suitable age we should probably be glad of it, as we shouldn't have to bother ourselves about Dad when we simply wanted to be selfish with our own homes and husbands.
human
Yes, that's the sort of thing that Aunt Mary _would_ say.
gpt
But what we really object to is his having the sort of happiness we have got for ourselves. Because he wouldn't get any of it from _us_.
human
There is generally a spice of truth in Aunt Mary's sharp speeches, which is worth looking out for. You haven't told me what Dick says about it.
gpt
Oh, Dick takes the man's point of view, of course. Man remains a lovable creature till he's about seventy, or eighty or ninety. A woman has to leave off expecting to be loved when she's about thirty. He says Dad is as young as anybody, and he can't see what all the fuss is about.
human
I don't know that there is any fuss. Except with poor darling Barbara. She hates it.
gpt
Poor lamb! Of course she was looking forward to having her innings, with both of us married.
human
She has never liked Ella as much as we have.
gpt
I haven't noticed much difference. Of course she's jealous of her now. But that would calm down. I _should_ like Dad to have some more children. He'd be awfully sweet to them. Fancy! They'd be younger than mine.