human
Ah! monsieur Dan, I fear you have had a weary day of it; but it was impossible for me to return sooner.
gpt
It is very kind of you to return at all,
human
Now, Monsieur, you are anxious, I know, that I keep my promise of the morning.
gpt
Most anxious,
human
Without doubt. Come here, my friend, sit near me and listen attentively to a long story.
gpt
You have consulted with the Marquis?
human
Yes, I know what my mother has told me. The child was abandoned to her rather than left in her charge.
gpt
said Madame de la Fontaine;
human
General Pointelle was impelled to act as he did by the strongest motives,--nothing less than the tremendous task, undertaken for his country, to liberate the Emperor Napoleon from Elba. General Pointelle was a soldier,--more, he was a maréchal of the Empire; the greatest responsibilities devolved upon him. It was impossible for him to be burdened with a child.
gpt
But why, madame, did he not take my mother into his confidence?
human
Secrecy was imperative, monsieur. Even to this day, you do not know who General Pointelle actually was. His was a name well-known in France, glorious in the annals of the Empire; a name, too, familiar to you in a somewhat different connection. 'General Pointelle' was the _nom-de-guerre_, as it were, of François, Marquis de Boisdhyver, maréchal de France.
gpt
François! you say, _François_!
human
Simply, madame, exclaimed Dan hastily,
gpt
Not quite, corrected the lady;
human
Ah! and therefore Nancy's uncle?
gpt
Yes, the uncle of Nancy Frost, or of Eloise de Boisdhyver.
human
I see, said Dan.
gpt
I begin to see.