human
Now my dear Mr. Beason, she laughed finally,
gpt
Now Georgia, hastened Mrs. McCormick earnestly,
human
Perhaps not. But just because a thing has never been said before, isn't there all the more reason for saying it now? And I'm just trying to make Mr. Beason understand --demurely--
gpt
Does he ever come here?
human
Yes, indeed; he honours our poor board quite often with the light of his countenance.
gpt
Well, do you--know about him?
human
That he's 'way up? Oh, my, yes. And we're tremendously proud of him.
gpt
I should think you would be,
human
Karl is indeed remarkable, said Mrs. McCormick, blandly expansive, well pleased with both Karl and her own appreciation of him.
gpt
I feel that our family has much to be proud of, to think both he and Georgia have done so well with their work.
human
Now my chief interest, said Wyman, who was at the stage where he put life in capital letters, and cherished harmless ideas about his own deep understanding of the human heart,
gpt
--it was his capital letter voice--
human
A dandy girl,
gpt
She has the artistic temperament?
human
Oh, not disagreeably so,
gpt
You see, turning to Beason, who was plainly impatient at this shifting to anything so irrelevant as a wife,
human
I play quite a leading part in Dr. Hubers' life. I'm his cousin--that's the accident of birth; but I handed over to him his wife, for which he owes me undying gratitude. I'm looking for something really splendid from Europe.
gpt
I wish I hadn't gone home so early that spring, sighed Wyman.
human
I'd like to have seen that little affair. It must have been the real thing in romance.
gpt
But it was nothing of the sort! It was the most disgraceful thing I ever had anything to do with.
human
Now Georgia, protested her mother,
gpt
Well I couldn't be misunderstood about this! Oh, it was awful!--the suddenness of it, you know. You see Miss Stanley was an old college friend of mine. In fact, I roomed at their house, --she paused and seemed to be thinking of other things--serious things.
human
A year ago last spring, she went on,
gpt
Ernestine stopped here on her way home from New York. Her parents had died, but an old aunt lived in their house, and she was going to see her. I had always told her about Karl, but she had never met him, because when Ernestine and I were together so much, he was in Europe. So I wanted her to meet him--well, principally because he was a good deal of a celebrity, and I thought it would be nice. I'll be real honest and confess it never occurred to me there would be anything exciting doing. Well, Karl didn't want to come. First he said he would, and then he telephoned he was busy. So I just went over to the laboratory and _got_ him. I told him he was expected, and if he didn't come, mother and I never would forgive him. He washed his hands and came along, grumbling all the way about how one's relatives interfered with one's life--oh, Karl and I are tremendously frank, and then when he got here--well, I'll just leave it to mother.
human
He did seem to be greatly impressed with Georgia's friend.
gpt
I never saw him act so stupid! Oh, but I was mad at him! I wanted him to talk about Europe and be brilliant, but he didn't do anything but sit and look at Ernestine. Fact of the matter is, Ernestine doesn't look quite like the rest of us. At least Karl thought she didn't, and evidently he made up his mind then and there he was going to have her. Ernestine left Chicago sooner than he thought she was going to, and what does he do but go after her--and get her! You see, all of Karl's ancestors weren't meek and gentle scholars and wise professors. Lots of them were soldiers and bloodthirsty brigands, and those are the ones he brags about most and in spite of his mind, and all that, those are the ones he is most like. I suppose it was in the blood to get what he wanted. I'm sure I don't know how he did it. Lots of men had wanted Ernestine, and she had the caring-for-her-art notion--she's made good tremendously, you know--but art took a back seat when Dr. Hubers arrived on the scene. That's all there is to it. I wouldn't call it a romance. It was more in the line of a hop, skip and jump.