human
I dare say you thought my request a very singular one, said Gerald, as he sat down beside her,
gpt
This has been a day of surprises, answered Eleanor.
human
It seems like twenty years since yesterday.
gpt
It will seem like twice twenty when you shall have heard all that I have to tell you.
human
Are you going to tell me that you love me no longer?
gpt
I asked you not to open the sealed packet till you had seen me again, because I thought it better that I should first tell you a certain strange story, of which as yet you know nothing, and so prepare your mind for what you will find there when you come to open it.
human
But--but how is it possible that you can know anything as to the contents of the sealed packet?
gpt
It is quite possible, as you shall presently hear, answered Gerald, with a smile.
human
But before I go any further, I want you to promise me one thing.
gpt
Only one! I think I may promise that. But tell me what it is.
human
Simply this. That nothing I may tell you this afternoon will be allowed in any way to prejudice the promise which you gave me this morning.
gpt
The promise which you stole, you mean.
human
Well, then, the promise which I stole. But since you put the case in that way, I must change my request into a warning. Take notice, that I, John Pomeroy, do hereby warn you, Eleanor Lloyd, that whatever I may have to tell you to-day notwithstanding, I shall consider you bound in honour to fulfil and carry out a certain promise which, whether it was stolen from you or given of your own free will, is none the less a promise, and binding on your conscience as such. I cannot just now call to mind the particular Act of Parliament applicable in such cases, but I have no doubt that there is one. Consider yourself, therefore, as having been properly warned.
gpt
And now, sir, may I ask of what strange, eventful history all this may be looked on as the prologue?
human
What need I fear now I know that he loves me? she asked herself; and her heart whispered back--
gpt
Nothing.
human
A strange, eventful history, indeed, said Gerald;
gpt
Once on a time, he said, at last--
human
Do you know Miss Bellamy?
gpt
Miss Bellamy used to buy me sweets when I was a very small shaver indeed. In fact, there is a legend current that she assisted at the cutting of my first tooth.
human
But why did she send for you all the way from France?