human
I _am_ hungry,
gpt
Don't eat me, laughed Miss Tallentire;
human
You be Red Ridinghood and I the wolf,
gpt
No. Do be serious, Lionel! I want you to tell me about this poor man you saw.
human
Garth? Ah, he'll never see another Christmas. Consumption is wasting him to a shadow. In another three or four months---- Lionel broke off with a sigh,
gpt
Poor man!
human
Can't anything be done?
gpt
Everything possible is being done, Joan. The Duke is looking after Garth in every way--you know how kind he is. He even sent Demetrius to cure him, and if Demetrius can't, no one else can.
human
But if he was taken to a warmer climate----
gpt
The end would only be retarded for a few months, interrupted the curate.
human
Demetrius says there is no hope. And I don't think the poor fellow is sorry to go, Joan. He has no relatives, and few friends. I fancy he has had a lonely life.
gpt
Poor fellow! she echoed, stealing one hand into that of her lover's.
human
Fancy, if we----
gpt
I can't fancy it with you by my side. And what is more, I don't intend to fancy it, said Lionel, hastily.
human
Please God, you and I have many happy and useful years before us. How do you like the Firmingham vicarage, Joan?
gpt
Oh, it's lovely, and such a sweet church. But I fear it's too good to be true.
human
Perhaps it's not what you want, joked the curate.
gpt
If I were the Duke, now!
human
Ah, that's impossible, she laughed, amused at the idea of being a duchess;
gpt
It needn't, Lionel assured her:
human
You don't like him?
gpt
Not passionately,
human
His wife would make a splendid duchess.
gpt
In looks, I have no doubt. But with fifty thousand a year and a great position, she and Jim would do good to neither God nor man.
human
Lady James Kaimes seems very kind,
gpt
It's all seeming. Of real, true, self-sacrificing kindness she knows absolutely nothing.
human
But she is so beautiful, Lionel.
gpt
So was Jezebel, I expect.
human
Oh, Lionel!
gpt
Oh, Joan! he mimicked.
human
Don't worry your head over Lady Jim. She will always get on well in this world, though I am very doubtful about her position in the next. Come, he pointed down the incline of the lane,
gpt
I'll race you to the bottom.
human
We might meet some one.
gpt
I don't care--I'm out for a holiday