human
My ward? he said.
gpt
Let us make acquaintance, and try to like each other. I am your new guardian.
human
When I saw you last--it was twelve years ago--you were a little maid of seven. Do you remember?
gpt
I think I do; but I am not quite sure. Are you really my guardian?
human
I am indeed. Do I not look like one? To be sure, it is my first appearance in the character.
gpt
Mr. Dyson was so old, she said,
human
I am only getting old, he sighed.
gpt
It is not nice to feel yourself going to get old. Wait twenty years, and you will begin to feel the same perhaps. But though I am thirty years younger than Mr. Dyson, I will try to treat you exactly as he did.
human
Oh! she cried.
gpt
But I am afraid that will not do any more.
human
Why, Phillis--I may call you Phillis since I am your guardian, may I not?--did he treat you badly? Why did you not write to me?
gpt
I did not write, Mr. Colquhoun--if you call me Phillis, I ought to call you Lawrence, ought I not, because you are not old?--I did not write, because dear old Mr. Dyson treated me very kindly, and because you were away and never came to see me, and because I--I never learned to write.
human
Besides, she went on,
gpt
You shall not be a prisoner, Phillis. That is quite certain. We shall find something better than that for you. But it cannot be very lively, in this big house, all by yourself.
human
Not very lively; but I am quite happy here.
gpt
Most young ladies read novels to pass away the time.
human
I know, poor things. Phillis looked with unutterable sympathy.
gpt
Mr. Dyson used to say that the sympathies which could not be quickened by history were so dull that fiction was thrown away upon them.
human
Did you never--I mean, did he never read you novels?
gpt
He said that my imagination was quite powerful enough to be a good servant, and he did not wish it to become my master. And then there was something else, about wanting the experience of life necessary to appreciate fiction.
human
Abraham Dyson was a wise man, Phillis. But what do you do all day?
gpt
I draw; I talk to my maid, Antoinette; I give the Twins their breakfast----
human
Those were the Twins--Mr. Jagenal's elder brothers--whom I met on the steps, I suppose? I have heard of them. _Après_, Phillis?
gpt
I play and sing to myself; I go out for a walk in the garden of the square; I go to Mr. Jagenal's office, and walk home with him; and I look after my wardrobe. Then I sit and think of what I have seen and heard--put it all away in my memory, or I repeat to my self over again some of the poetry which I learned at Highgate.
human
And you know no young ladies?
gpt
No; I wish I did. I am curious to talk to young ladies--quite young ladies, you know, of my own age. I want to compare myself with them, and find out my faults. You will tell me my faults, Lawrence, will you?
human
I don't quite think I can promise that, Phillis. You see, you might retaliate; and if you once begin telling me my faults, there would be no end.
gpt
Oh, I am sorry! Phillis looked curiously at her guardian for some outward sign or token of the old Adam. But she saw none.
human
Perhaps I shall find them out some time, and then I will tell you.
gpt
Heaven forbid! he said, laughing.
human
Now, Phillis, I have been asked to dine here, and I am going to be at your service all day. It is only one o'clock. What shall we do, and where shall we go?
gpt
Anywhere, she replied,