human
You did not answer the question I asked you a few minutes ago, she reminded him.
gpt
When is your wife returning?
human
Lady Jane, he said,
gpt
Not at all?
human
To me, never, he answered.
gpt
We have separated.
human
I am so very sorry, she said, after a moment's startled silence.
gpt
I am afraid that I asked a tactless question, but how could I know?
human
There was nothing tactless about it, he assured her.
gpt
It makes it much easier for me to tell you. I married my wife thirteen years ago because I believed that her wealth would help me in my career. She married me because she was an American with ambitions, anxious to find a definite place in English society. She has been disappointed in me. Other circumstances have now presented themselves. I have discovered that my wife's affections are bestowed elsewhere. To be perfectly honest, the discovery was a relief to me.
human
So that is why you are living down here like this?
gpt
Precisely! The one thing for which I am grateful, he went on,
human
Of course you are talking nonsense,
gpt
Why nonsense?
human
You must go back to your work,
gpt
Keep this place for your holiday moments, certainly, but for the rest, to talk of settling down here is simply wicked.
human
What is my work? he asked.
gpt
I tell you frankly that I do not know where I belong. A very intelligent constituency, stuffed up to the throat with schoolboard education, has determined that it would prefer a representative who has changed his politics already four times. I seem to be nobody's man. Horlock at heart is frightened of me, because he is convinced that I am not sound, and he has only tried to make use of me as a sop to democracy. The Whigs hate me like poison, hate me even worse than Horlock. If I were in Parliament, I should not know which Party to support. I think I shall devote my time to roses.
human
And between September and May?
gpt
I shall hibernate and think about them.
human
Of course, she said, with the air of one humoring a child,
gpt
Explain, please,
human
You said just now that you did not know where your place was, she continued.
gpt
You called yourself nobody's man. Why, the most ignorant person who thinks about things could tell you where you belong. Even I could tell you.
human
Please do,
gpt
Walk round the garden with me, she begged, brushing the cigarette ash from her skirt.
human
You know what a terrible out-of-door person I am. This room seems to me close. I want to smell the sea from one of those wonderful lookouts of yours.