human
He really was upset about something, she added at the end of the story.
gpt
Of course, he was not so upset as he seemed, but there _is_ something wrong, I'm sure. I believe mother would take him back if Clara Crichell did not marry him after all.
human
What on earth makes you think that she won't marry him? he asked, puzzled.
gpt
No woman alive would go through all this business of the divorce and the publicity unless she really cared for the man.
human
Oh, well, I don't know. You see, we know him so well that I suppose we instinctively fear she may have got to know him and--and--not liked what she has learnt.
gpt
I rather like your father, you know, he said slowly,
human
He must be, she answered, with the charity of utter indifference.
gpt
He must be charming somewhere, and he certainly isn't when he is here!
human
It struck me the last time I saw him, Barclay went on slowly,
gpt
Oh, yes, I mean just that--misses your mother. She has taken care of him for years, you know, and I don't imagine Mrs. Crichell would be as patient with his moods and vagaries as your mother has always been.
human
No, and I hope she isn't! His hot milk last thing at night, and his four grades of underclothing, and his trouser-pressing machines, and his indigestion! His hot bottles in the middle of the night every time he's dined too well, and poor mother poking around in the kitchen heating kettles on the gas-ring! Oh, no, Mrs. Crichell won't much _like_ that side of her beau sabreur, as she calls him.
gpt
The poor wretch looks miserably unhappy, he said.
human
Those white hands of his look--look shrunken in their skin--rather as if he had kid gloves on.
gpt
Ugh! his hands are loathsome! After all, she added a moment later, staring at a rose-bush,
human
she cried, catching his arm almost as if she were frightened,
gpt
Yes, dear, there is. A great deal of it is inevitable and has to be borne, but the other kind--the kind that can be avoided--ought always, I think, to be avoided. It is right that it _should_ be avoided.
human
What do you mean?
gpt
I mean that when people find they have made mistakes--and everyone does find that once in a while--I think that no consideration of pride or advantage ought to stand in the way of open confession and restoration.
human
You are thinking about mother and father. You mean that if Mrs. Crichell finds she has been mistaken, she ought to say so and go back to her husband, even though people laughed at her for it.
gpt
No, I was not thinking of the Crichells or your father.