human
What are you waiting for?
gpt
Call them back, he answered.
human
I have something to say in their presence before I go.
gpt
Say it in my presence, retorted Bintrey.
human
I decline to call them back.
gpt
Do you remember telling me that you once had an English client named Vendale?
human
Well, answered the notary.
gpt
And what of that?
human
Maitre Voigt, your clock-lock has betrayed you.
gpt
What do you mean?
human
I have read the letters and certificates in your client's box. I have taken copies of them. I have got the copies here. Is there, or is there not, a reason for calling them back?
gpt
Now, Mr. Obenreizer, said Bintrey,
human
Before I resign my position as that young lady's guardian, said Obenreizer,
gpt
I have a secret to reveal in which she is interested. In making my disclosure, I am not claiming her attention for a narrative which she, or any other person present, is expected to take on trust. I am possessed of written proofs, copies of originals, the authenticity of which Maitre Voigt himself can attest. Bear that in mind, and permit me to refer you, at starting, to a date long past--the month of February, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.
human
Mark the date, Mr. Vendale,
gpt
My first proof, said Obenreizer, taking a paper from his pocket-book.
human
Copy of a letter, written by an English lady (married) to her sister, a widow. The name of the person writing the letter I shall keep suppressed until I have done. The name of the person to whom the letter is written I am willing to reveal. It is addressed to 'Mrs. Jane Anne Miller, of Groombridge Wells, England.'
gpt
No, said the pertinacious lawyer.
human
Leave it to me.
gpt
It is needless to trouble you with the first half of the letter, he said.
human
I can give the substance of it in two words. The writer's position at the time is this. She has been long living in Switzerland with her husband--obliged to live there for the sake of her husband's health. They are about to move to a new residence on the Lake of Neuchatel in a week, and they will be ready to receive Mrs. Miller as visitor in a fortnight from that time. This said, the writer next enters into an important domestic detail. She has been childless for years--she and her husband have now no hope of children; they are lonely; they want an interest in life; they have decided on adopting a child. Here the important part of the letter begins; and here, therefore, I read it to you word for word.