human
I'm so glad,
gpt
Martin will be glad, too, she said,
human
That?
gpt
You won't be cross with me, will you? But Martin is so fond of you. . . . He always has been fond of you, ever since he was a boy . . . but this time. . . .
human
Yes?
gpt
This time I thought . . . I really, really thought he was too fond of you.
human
Not that he said so--not to say said so, but it's a mother to see things, isn't it? And he was talking and talking so much about Mary O'Neill that I was frightened--really frightened.
gpt
Frightened?
human
He's so tender-hearted, you see. And then you . . . you're such a wonderful woman grown. Tommy the Mate says there hasn't been the like of you on this island since they laid your mother under the sod. It's truth enough, too--gospel truth. And Martin--Martin says there isn't your equal, no, not in London itself neither. So . . . so, she said, trembling and stammering,
gpt
I was thinking . . . I was thinking he was only flesh and blood like the rest of us, poor boy, and if he got to be _too_ fond of you . . . now that you're married and have a husband, you know. . . .
human
They're saying you are not very happy in your marriage neither. Times and times I've heard people saying he isn't kind to you, and they married you against your will. . . . So I was telling myself if that's so, and Martin and you came together now, and you encouraged him, and let him go on and anything came of it . . . any trouble or disgrace or the like of that . . . it would be such a terrible cruel shocking thing for the boy . . . just when everybody's talking about him and speaking so well too.