human
I am so glad you have come back, Phil, she said.
gpt
I shall sleep better now that I have seen you. I hear that Lord Grayleigh has offered you the post of engineer on the board of the Lombard Deeps Mine Company.
human
Had you not better go to bed? It is much too late for you to be up.
gpt
What does that matter? I am far too excited to sleep, and it is wrong of you to keep things of moment from your wife. This offer means a large addition to our income. Why, Phil, Phil, we can buy a country place now; we can do, oh! so many things. We can pay those terrible debts that worry you. What is the matter? Aren't you pleased? Why do you frown at me? And you are pale, are you ill?
human
Come into my smoking-room,
gpt
This will make a great difference in our position,
human
What do you mean by our position?
gpt
You know perfectly well that we have not money enough to keep up this house; it is a struggle from first to last.
human
And yet I earn close on six thousand a year, Mildred. Have you never considered that you are the person who makes it a struggle?
gpt
It is impossible; impossible to manage,
human
It is, when you buy all these worthless baubles --he touched her diamonds, and then he started away from her.
gpt
Why you should saddle yourself and me with debts almost impossible to meet for the sake of these is beyond my comprehension; but if you really do want a fresh toy in the way of an ornament to-morrow you have but to order it--that is, in moderation.
human
Ah! I knew you had accepted, she said, making a quick dancing movement with her small feet.
gpt
Now I am happy; we can have a place if possible on the river. I have always longed to live close to the Thames. It is most unfashionable not to have a country seat, and the child will be well off by-and-by. I was told to-night by a City man who is to be one of the directors of the new company, that if you are clever you can make a cool forty thousand pounds out of this business. He says your name is essential to float the thing with the public.
human
You know, perhaps, what all this means?
gpt
Why do you speak in that tone, quite with the Sibyl air?
human
Don't dare to mention the child's name at a moment like this. I just wish to tell you, Mildred, in a few words, what it would mean to the world at large if I assayed the Lombard Deeps Gold Mine.
gpt
Oh, your business terms do so puzzle me, she answered.
human
I declare I am getting sleepy.
gpt
It would be better if you went to bed, but as you are here I shall put your mind at rest. If I accepted Grayleigh's offer----
human
If! But you have done so, of course you have.
gpt
If I do, my name as engineer to the company will cause many people to buy shares. Now, Mildred, I am not sure of the Lombard Deeps Gold Mine. I know more about this business than I can explain to you, and you have a tongue, and women cannot keep secrets.
human
As usual, you taunt me, she said,
gpt
The letter has come.
human
You would make thousands a year out of it. Phil, oh, Phil, how happy I am! You have replied, have you not?
gpt
I have.
human
Then why do you keep me in suspense? It is settled. What are you so glum about?
gpt
I have declined the offer. I cannot assay the Lombard Deeps Gold Mine.
human
Philip!
gpt
You cannot be speaking the truth,
human
My answer is posted. I am not too scrupulous about small things, but I draw the line at a matter of that sort. Go to bed.
gpt
I hate you, she said;