human
Do tell us what he looks like! demanded the Jabberwocks in unison.
gpt
Is he handsome?
human
Why, yes--yes, I suppose he is, said Joan, pausing to reflect.
gpt
He's distinguished-looking, quite foreign, you know; with very expressive eyes and a fine, sensitive sort of face. He's not like our men exactly--and yet he doesn't look Jewish. You know his mother was a Christian. But his father was born in the Ghetto, somewhere in Russia, and Stefan actually worked in a sweat-shop when he first came to this country.--He was the son of a rabbi, though.
human
They always are, murmured Emily _en passant_.
gpt
Rabbis always seem to have such large families. Rabbis and rabbits--did you ever notice?
human
Don't be coarse!
gpt
Yes, Em, it's really too bad of you!--you're always spoiling things with your sarcasm.
human
Do go on, Miss Darcy!--It's so romantic.
gpt
We ought to be nicer to Jews than we are, I think, girls. They're really wonderful!--so clever, you know.
human
Yes, agreed Joan,
gpt
Wish you were a Jew? Why, Miss Darcy! Haven't you any prejudice against them at all?
human
Prejudice--against a race of several billion people? Joan was astonished in her turn. A singularly tolerant mother, and later, life in a little conventual world which had its own standards and viewpoints, had sheltered her from much of the contagion of current opinion.
gpt
That _would_ be a large order! she smiled.
human
No, I can't seem to do my prejudicing in wholesale lots. But of course I have seen Jews one could cheerfully do without--the oily sort. And Christians too--haven't you? She dismissed the subject with a shrug.
gpt
Since you're so interested in Stefan Nikolai, I wonder if you'd like to hear a letter from him. There's one in my muff that the postman brought just as I started.
human
You won't mind if it's quite personal? They sometimes are.
gpt
So much the better!...