human
Oh, Bella! I am so glad to see you, sang out the Marshely school-mistress volubly.
gpt
I really didn't want to go to the Manor and meet that horrid aunt of yours. Come with me, dear; he is waiting at my cottage.
human
Who is waiting?
gpt
Oh, my dear, as if to a girl in love there is any he but the one he in the world,
human
Do you mean to say that Mr. Lister----
gpt
Mr. Lister? Oh, you cruel-hearted girl: do you call him that?
human
I mean Cyril, said Bella hurriedly;
gpt
Yes, he is. He won't come to the Manor, and can't very well see you in his own rooms, as that nasty-minded Mrs. Block might say things. She is such a gossip you know. In despair he came to me, poor dear, so I asked him to wait in my sitting-room while I came for you.
human
I am going to Mrs. Tunks'.
gpt
What for?
human
Never mind, replied Miss Huxham, unwilling to confess that she was dealing with uncanny things beyond the veil.
gpt
I must go.
human
You shall do nothing of the sort, you cold thing, she declared.
gpt
Poor Mr. Lister is quite broken-hearted by the way in which you have treated him.
human
Oh! Bella became stiffer than ever.
gpt
Has he said----
human
He has said nothing! he is too much a man to say anything. But I saw his poor, pale, peaked face, and----
gpt
Does he look ill?
human
Ill? Miss Ankers' gestures and looks became eloquent.
gpt
Dear, he is dying.
human
Oh, Dora! Miss Huxham kilted up her skirts and fairly ran across the planks.
gpt
Why didn't you come for me before?
human
You don't seem to be in a hurry to come now, laughed Dora, crossing in her turn;
gpt
Where has he been all this time?
human
I'm sure I don't know, dear. He came straight from London last night, and went to my cottage this morning to see me. I was in church, so he came again in the afternoon, and asked me to help him. Oh, my dear, he is handsome, and I felt that I could do anything for him. I wish he had made love to me, sighed the romantic school-mistress;