human
Well, she said, in a non-committal fashion,
gpt
Perhaps I am, but it isn't so very astonishing that I should occasionally resent a slight that isn't meant when there are so many of them that certainly are. No doubt, it's my own fault. I should have known what to expect when I crept into the exclusive tennis club at Holtcar.
human
Then I wonder why you joined it at all.
gpt
So do I at times. Still, I wanted to see what people of position and refinement were really like, and to learn anything they might be inclined to teach me. I was ambitious, you see--and besides, I was really fond of the game.
human
And you were disappointed when you met them?
gpt
Chiefly in myself. I thought I was strong enough not to mind being treated as a professional and politely ignored except when I was useful. Then I imagined it would be excellent discipline, and discipline is presumably good for one, as the worthy vicar, who really appears to have ideas, is fond of observing.
human
Isn't that a trifle patronizing? she said.
gpt
You can't be very much older than I am, and he has, at least, seen a good deal of the world.
human
I know I very often talk like a fool--and the difference between you and the others is that you very seldom think it necessary to remind me of it. That is, of course, one difference. The rest----
gpt
I think, said the girl, severely,
human
Well, said Ingleby,
gpt
I really believe he means well, but he is, after all, part of the system, and naturally interested in maintaining the existing state of things. We have in England a few great bolstered-up professions, one could almost call them professional rings, and the men fortunate enough to enter them are more or less compelled to play into one another's hands. The millions who don't belong to them are, of course, outsiders, and couldn't be expected to count, you see.
human
You appear to forget that my father belongs to one of those professions,
gpt
He did,