human
Those race-characteristics of families are very curious,
gpt
Are they?
human
Very. Especially voices. They run in families, like resemblance of features.
gpt
So they do, answered the other, thoughtfully.
human
So they do.
gpt
Yes, said Griggs.
human
I noticed Donna Francesca's voice, the first time I ever heard it. It is one of those voices which must be inherited. I am sure that all her family have spoken as she does. It reminds me of something--of some one--
gpt
I say, he began, interrupting his companion.
human
Do you feel anything? Anything queer in your head?
gpt
No. Why?
human
You are talking rather disconnectedly, that is all.
gpt
Am I? It did not strike me that I was incoherent. Probably one half of me was asleep while the other was talking. He laughed drily, and drank again.
human
No, he said thoughtfully, as he set down his glass.
gpt
I feel nothing unusual in my head. It would be odd if I did, considering that we have only just begun.
human
So I thought,
gpt
There goes another bottle, said Dalrymple, at last, as he drained the last drops from the flagon measure.
human
Drink a little faster. This is slow work. We know the old road well enough.
gpt
You are not inclined to give up the attempt, are you? inquired Griggs, whose still face showed no change.
human
Is it fair to eat? I am hungry.
gpt
Certainly. Eat as much as you like.
human
We are not loquacious over our cups, remarked Dalrymple.
gpt
Should you mind telling me why you are anxious to get drunk to-night for the first time in your life?
human
I might ask you the same question,
gpt
Merely because you proposed it. It struck me as a perfectly new idea. I have not much to amuse me, you know, and I shall have less when my daughter leaves me. It would be an amusement to lose one's head in some way.
human
In such a way as to be able to get it back, you mean. I was walking this evening after the party, and I came to the Piazza Montanara. There is a big flagstone there on which people used to leave their heads for good.
gpt
Yes. I have seen it. You cannot tell me much about Rome which I do not know.
human
There were a lot of carriers drinking close by. It was rather grim, I thought. An old fellow there had a spite against somebody. You know how they talk. 'They may cut off my head there on the paving-stone,' the man said. 'If I find him, I kill him. An evil death on him and all his house!' You have heard that sort of thing. But the fellow seemed to be very much in earnest.
gpt
He will probably kill his man,
human
Are you cold?
gpt
Cold? No. Some one was walking over my grave, as they say. If we varied the entertainment with something stronger, we should get on faster, though.
human
No, said Griggs.
gpt
I refuse to mix things. This may be the longer way, but it is the safer.
human
He was a man from Tivoli, or Subiaco, he remarked presently.
gpt
He spoke with that accent.
human
I daresay,