human
I cannot conceive why nature did not give you a bulldog's head, for you have all a bulldog's tenacity,
gpt
Not a flattering idea. Am I so ignoble?
human
And something also you have of the same animal's silent ways of going about its work. You give no warning; you come noiselessly behind, seize fast, and hold on.
gpt
This is guess-work. You have witnessed no such feat on my part. In your presence I have been no bulldog.
human
Your very silence indicates your race. How little you talk in general, yet how deeply you scheme! You are far-seeing; you are calculating.
gpt
I know the ways of these people. I have gathered information of their intentions. My note last night informed you that Barraclough's trial had ended in his conviction and sentence to transportation. His associates will plot vengeance. I shall lay my plans so as to counteract or at least be prepared for theirs--that is all. Having now given you as clear an explanation as I can, am I to understand that for what I propose doing I have your approbation?
human
I shall stand by you so long as you remain on the defensive. Yes.
gpt
Good! Without any aid--even opposed or disapproved by you--I believe I should have acted precisely as I now intend to act, but in another spirit. I now feel satisfied. On the whole, I relish the position.
human
I dare say you do. That is evident. You relish the work which lies before you still better than you would relish the execution of a government order for army-cloth.
gpt
I certainly feel it congenial.
human
So would old Helstone. It is true there is a shade of difference in your motives--many shades, perhaps. Shall I speak to Mr. Helstone? I will, if you like.
gpt
Act as you please. Your judgment, Miss Keeldar, will guide you accurately. I could rely on it myself in a more difficult crisis. But I should inform you Mr. Helstone is somewhat prejudiced against me at present.
human
I am aware--I have heard all about your differences. Depend upon it, they will melt away. He cannot resist the temptation of an alliance under present circumstances.
gpt
I should be glad to have him; he is of true metal.
human
I think so also.
gpt
An old blade, and rusty somewhat, but the edge and temper still excellent.
human
Well, you shall have him, Mr. Moore--that is, if I can win him.
gpt
Whom can you not win?
human
Perhaps not the rector; but I will make the effort.
gpt
Effort! He will yield for a word--a smile.
human
By no means. It will cost me several cups of tea, some toast and cake, and an ample measure of remonstrances, expostulations, and persuasions. It grows rather chill.
gpt
I perceive you shiver. Am I acting wrongly to detain you here? Yet it is so calm--I even feel it warm--and society such as yours is a pleasure to me so rare. If you were wrapped in a thicker shawl----
human
I might stay longer, and forget how late it is, which would chagrin Mrs. Pryor. We keep early and regular hours at Fieldhead, Mr. Moore; and so, I am sure, does your sister at the cottage.
gpt
Yes; but Hortense and I have an understanding the most convenient in the world, that we shall each do as we please.
human
How do you please to do?
gpt
Three nights in the week I sleep in the mill--but I require little rest--and when it is moonlight and mild I often haunt the Hollow till daybreak.
human
When I was a very little girl, Mr. Moore, my nurse used to tell me tales of fairies being seen in that Hollow. That was before my father built the mill, when it was a perfectly solitary ravine. You will be falling under enchantment.
gpt
I fear it is done,
human
But there are worse things than fairies to be guarded against,
gpt
Things more perilous,
human
Far more so. For instance, how would you like to meet Michael Hartley, that mad Calvinist and Jacobin weaver? They say he is addicted to poaching, and often goes abroad at night with his gun.
gpt
I have already had the luck to meet him. We held a long argument together one night. A strange little incident it was; I liked it.
human
Liked it? I admire your taste! Michael is not sane. Where did you meet him?
gpt
In the deepest, shadiest spot in the glen, where the water runs low, under brushwood. We sat down near that plank bridge. It was moonlight, but clouded, and very windy. We had a talk.
human
On politics?
gpt
And religion. I think the moon was at the full, and Michael was as near crazed as possible. He uttered strange blasphemy in his Antinomian fashion.
human
Excuse me, but I think you must have been nearly as mad as he, to sit listening to him.
gpt
There is a wild interest in his ravings. The man would be half a poet, if he were not wholly a maniac; and perhaps a prophet, if he were not a profligate. He solemnly informed me that hell was foreordained my inevitable portion; that he read the mark of the beast on my brow; that I had been an outcast from the beginning. God's vengeance, he said, was preparing for me, and affirmed that in a vision of the night he had beheld the manner and the instrument of my doom. I wanted to know further, but he left me with these words, 'The end is not yet.'
human
Have you ever seen him since?
gpt
About a month afterwards, in returning from market, I encountered him and Moses Barraclough, both in an advanced stage of inebriation. They were praying in frantic sort at the roadside. They accosted me as Satan, bid me avaunt, and clamoured to be delivered from temptation. Again, but a few days ago, Michael took the trouble of appearing at the counting-house door, hatless, in his shirt-sleeves--his coat and castor having been detained at the public-house in pledge. He delivered himself of the comfortable message that he could wish Mr. Moore to set his house in order, as his soul was likely shortly to be required of him.
human
Do you make light of these things?
gpt
The poor man had been drinking for weeks, and was in a state bordering on delirium tremens.
human
What then? He is the more likely to attempt the fulfilment of his own prophecies.
gpt
It would not do to permit incidents of this sort to affect one's nerves.
human
Mr. Moore, go home!
gpt
So soon?
human
Pass straight down the fields, not round by the lade and plantations.
gpt
It is early yet.
human
It is late. For my part, I am going in. Will you promise me not to wander in the Hollow to-night?
gpt
If you wish it.
human
I do wish it. May I ask whether you consider life valueless?
gpt
By no means. On the contrary, of late I regard my life as invaluable.
human
Of late?
gpt
Existence is neither aimless nor hopeless to me now, and it was both three months ago. I was then drowning, and rather wished the operation over. All at once a hand was stretched to me--such a delicate hand I scarcely dared trust it; its strength, however, has rescued me from ruin.
human
Are you really rescued?
gpt
For the time. Your assistance has given me another chance.
human
Live to make the best of it. Don't offer yourself as a target to Michael Hartley; and good-night!