human
You really couldn't expect him to, he said, with a little laugh.
gpt
He has never had to do anything of that kind for a living as I have.
human
Oh, she said,
gpt
On the contrary, I suppose I ought to feel proud of them, though I scarcely think I am. Building flumes and dams, though that will hardly convey any very clear impression to you. It implies swinging the axe and shovel most of every day, and working up to the waist in water occasionally.
human
But you were always so particular in England.
gpt
I could naturally afford to be. It cost me nothing when I was living on another man's bounty.
human
And you gave up everything for me!
gpt
As a matter of fact, I am not quite sure that I did. My native wrong-headedness may have had its share in influencing me. Anyway, that was all done with--several years ago.
human
You will not be bitter, Harford, and she cast him a glance of appeal which might have awakened a trace of tenderness in the man had it sprung from any depth of feeling.
gpt
Can anything of that kind ever be quite done with?
human
Well, he said, reflectively,
gpt
I certainly think it ought to be.
human
You never even sent me a message. It really wasn't kind.
gpt
It appeared considerably more becoming to let myself sink into oblivion. Besides, I could scarcely be expected to feel certain that you would care to hear from me.
human
I have often thought about you. Of course, I was dreadfully sorry when I had to give you up, but I really couldn't do anything else, and it was all for the best.
gpt
Of course! said Brooke, with a trace of dryness, and smiled when she glanced at him sharply.
human
I naturally mean in your case.
gpt
You are only involving yourself, Harford. You never used to be so unfeeling.
human
I was endorsing your own statement, and it is, at least, considerably easier to believe that all is for the best when one is prosperous. You have a wealthy husband, and Helen, who wrote me once, testified that he indulged you in--she said every caprice.
gpt
Yes, said his companion, thoughtfully,
human
Shafton is certainly not poor, and he is almost everything any one could expect him to be. As husbands go, I think he is eminently satisfactory.
gpt
One would fancy that an indulgent and wealthy husband of distinguished appearance would go a tolerably long way.
human
Prosperity is apt to kill romance, she said.
gpt
One is never quite content, you know, and I feel now and then that Shafton scarcely understands me. That is a complaint people appear to find ludicrous, of course, though I really don't see why they should do so. Shafton is conventional and precise. You know exactly what he is going to do, and that it will be right, but one has longings now and then for something original and intense.