human
Do you mean that M. Groener does not approve of me?
gpt
M. Groener knows nothing about you, answered Mother Bonneton,
human
Well?
gpt
Well, the last time M. Groener was here, that's about a month ago, he asked me and my husband to make inquiries about _you_, and see what we could find out.
human
It's abominable!
gpt
Abominable? Why is it abominable? Your cousin wants to know if this young man is a proper person for you to have as a friend.
human
I can decide that for myself,
gpt
Oh, can you? Ha, ha! How wise we are!
human
And--er--you have made inquiries about me?
gpt
I should say we have! And found out things--well, just a few!
human
What things?
gpt
We have found out, my pretty sir, that you lived for months last year by gambling. I suppose you will deny it?
human
No, answered Kittredge in a low tone,
gpt
Ah! We found out also that the money you made by gambling you spent with a brazen creature who----
human
Stop! interrupted the American, and turning to the girl he said:
gpt
Alice, I didn't mean to go into these details, I didn't see the need of it, but----
human
I don't want to know the details, she interrupted.
gpt
I know _you_, Lloyd, that is enough.
human
Plucky! he murmured.
gpt
They're trying to queer me and maybe they will, but I'm not going to lie about it. Listen. I came to Paris a year ago on account of a certain person. I thought I loved her and--I made a fool of myself. I gave up a good position in New York and--after I had been here a while I went broke. So I gambled. It's pretty bad--I don't defend myself, only there's one thing I want you to know. This person was not a low woman, she was a lady.
human
Huh! grunted Mother Bonneton.
gpt
A lady! The kind of a lady who dines alone with gay young gentlemen in private rooms! Aha, we have the facts!
human
No matter where she dined, I say she was a lady, and the proof of it is I--I wanted her to get a divorce and--and marry me.
gpt
Oh!
human
You see what he is, triumphed the sacristan's wife,
gpt
You've got to hear the rest now. One day something happened that--that made me realize what an idiot I had been. When I say this person was a lady I'm not denying that she raised the devil with me. She did that good and plenty, so at last I decided to break away and I did. It wasn't exactly a path of roses for me those weeks, but I stuck to it, because--because I had some one to help me, he paused and looked tenderly at Alice,
human
And the lady? sneered Mother Bonneton.
gpt
Do you mean to tell us you haven't had anything to do with her for six months?
human
I haven't even seen her, he declared,
gpt
A likely story! Besides, what we know is enough. I shall write M. Groener to-night and tell him the facts. Meantime--