human
Now, would you really like to know?--you are so wonderfully good, he continued, with his eyes cast down, and every possible appearance of excessive misery;
gpt
Oh, but you must not allow them to be so, Mr. Sharp; indeed, you mustn't. I am sure that you must have a very good mother, from what you told me the other day; and if you have done any harm, though I scarcely can think such a thing of you, the best and most straightforward course is to go and tell your mother everything; and then it is so nice afterwards.
human
Yes, to be sure. How wise you are! You seem to know almost everything. I never saw any one like you at all. But the fact is that I am a little too old; I am obliged now to steer my own course in life. My mother is as good as gold, and much better; but she never could understand my feelings.
gpt
Then come in, and tell my dear old Aunt Patch. She is so virtuous, and she always never doubts about anything; she sees the right thing to be done in a moment, and she never listens to arguments. If you will only come in and see her, it might be such a relief to you.
human
You seem to mistake me altogether, cried the young man, with his patience gone.
gpt
What good could any old aunts do to me? Surely you know who it is that I want!
human
How can I imagine that?
gpt
Why, you, only you, only you, sweet Grace! I should like to see the whole earth swallowed up, if only you and I were left together!
human
I am afraid that it is no good,
gpt
I am very much obliged to you, answered Grace, with her fair cheeks full of colour, and her hands drawn carefully back to her sides;
human
Thirty miles from Oxford!
gpt
Yes; thirty miles, or thirty leagues. Sometimes I hear one thing, and sometimes the other.
human
Where you are standing now is about seven miles and three-quarters from Summer-town gate!
gpt
Surely, Mr. Sharp, you are laughing at me! How far am I from Beckley, then, according to your calculation?
human
How did you ever hear of Beckley? It is quite a little village. A miserable little place!
gpt
Indeed, then, it is not. It is the very finest place in all the world; or at any rate the nicest, and the dearest, and the prettiest!
human
But how can you, just come from America, have such an opinion of such a little hole?
gpt
A little hole! Why, it stands on a hill! You never can have been near it, if you think of calling it a 'hole!' And as for my coming from America, you seem to have no geography. I have never been further away from darling Beckley, to my knowledge, than I am now.