human
How cosy you are here! she said.
gpt
It was a horrid party--so dull! That is why I came home early.
human
You would like some tea?
gpt
Yes, please. Oh, thank you, as Anthony rang the bell.
human
It is pleasant to see you home again.
gpt
He is leaving us very soon, said Lady Jane, and her tones were again cold and measured.
human
He feels it his duty to go to nurse his Uncle Wilton.
gpt
Why? said the young woman, lifting her eyebrows.
human
Is there no one at Washington to look after him? Or is the lot of a diplomat so friendless?
gpt
He is very ill, and he is my father's only brother. My place is with him.
human
You are a self-sacrificing young man. First, you bury yourself among Irish savages; now, at a moment's notice, you are off to nurse the sick. I should think a valet would do quite as well.
gpt
Here is your tea, Lady Kitty,
human
By the way, I sat beside such a pleasant old man at dinner, Sir Rodney Durant. He asked me about you, and I told him of your exile. I ought to apologise for calling your hosts savages, by the way, for he told me a most interesting story about your tutor--Graydon, isn't it? It seems old Lord Downside cut him off with an angry penny because he married some friendless little beauty. Scandal said the old lord himself had pretensions. And then, to spite his heir, he married his cook or someone, and has a wretchedly delicate little boy of thirteen or thereabouts. Why didn't you tell me, Auntie Janie, or did you not know?
gpt
I never take notice of gossip, Kitty.
human
But is it gossip? You ought to know, for your husband and this man were friends. To hear Sir Rodney, the man Graydon was a sort of hero of romance.
gpt
An old man's stories, my dear.
human
Graydon is a splendid fellow, he said.
gpt
I am sure he is all Sir Rodney said.
human
Well, I'm sure it's nice to hear of such people nowadays, said Lady Kitty, yawning,
gpt
I thought they only existed in books. But such an interesting story, Auntie Janie! If you knew of it, why didn't you tell me, instead of treating the man as a kind of bucolic savage?
human
Go to bed, my darling, she said;
gpt
Bother my beauty-sleep!