human
Shape and fashion my life according to your will.
gpt
So you have come. It is kind of you,
human
You have made us all so happy, she said, in a soft, hurried voice.
gpt
The Bowers are good people, and the old place feels like a home to me.
human
Do you want to stay there always?
gpt
I have not lived there long, she said evasively.
human
You cannot realise what a rest it is. For two years I worked hard in London, learning my business; and I used to pine for fresh air, and the sight of fields and trees, as only working girls can. It was Miss de Vigny who found this home for me.
gpt
She would not tell me anything about you, said he.
human
Do you know what I feel when I hear of all your sorrows and struggles? I feel mad to think that I have got so much money. It seems as if Providence were playing with us both. Don't look shocked. I have a bad habit of saying odd things when I am wrought upon.
gpt
But I didn't bring you here to listen to my ravings, he went on.
human
I want to ask if you can give me any hope? Will there ever be a time when we shall work together? Only tell me this!
gpt
How can I answer? asked she, sadly.
human
I do not know. We have seen so little of each other. You are under the spell of strong feeling; but feeling only changes a man for a little while. It alters the surface of his nature, but leaves the inmost self untouched.
gpt
Ah, he said bitterly,
human
That is the truth. She looked up at him with a face that seemed to apologise for her words; it was so tender, as well as so true.
gpt
I am free from the spell. Because I am free, I would leave you so also. You think, just now, that you could do all the things and make all the sacrifices which I feel right. But, if we were together always, that mood of yours might not last.
human
Does not love last?
gpt
Miss Harper, he cried,
human
I mistrust them only till I see what they will lead to, she said gently.
gpt
They are the beginnings of love, but not love itself. That which you call love is not lasting; it is a blossom that the wind blows away.
human
Once more, he said,
gpt
I ask if you will give me a hope? To-morrow I am going away. May I come back again?
human
Yes, she answered, with a sudden bright look.
gpt
Come back when the swallows build. They owe it to your kindness that they will find the old place just the same. Mr. Cardigan, I am not as hard-hearted as you suppose. But a man must put himself to the test.