human
Come with me.
gpt
What for? said ARCHIBALD, as she seized him by the arm and hurried him into the shrubbery.
human
Recollect, he added,
gpt
You needn't be afraid, you little fool, she said.
human
Sit down on that stump.
gpt
ARCHIE, she murmured;
human
Oh, don't, _don't_ talk that way, said ARCHIBALD.
gpt
You make me afraid of you.
human
Afraid! she returned.
gpt
And of _me_? Oh cruel, cruel ARCHIBALD. Is it for this that I have passed many a sleepless night, awaking unrefreshed with haggard orbs? Is it for this that I've pined away and refused meat victuals?
human
ARCHIBALD BLINKSOP, for weeks I have basked in the sunlight of your existence. Your celestial smile, shedding a tranquil calm o'er my perturbed spirit, has been my daily sustenance. Your ethereal form, beautiful as an houri, has, with its subtle fascination, enthralled and steeped in bliss my innermost soul, lifting me as it were into a purer, a holier existence. Your--
gpt
Oh-h, moaned the wretched ARCHIBALD,
human
But you _do_ love me, don't you, ARCHIBALD?--just a very small fragment, you know.
gpt
Come, own up now, said she,
human
Oh, do, _do_ let me go,
gpt
Heaven knows, said she impressively,
human
But--but--I don't want to get married, said ARCHIBALD;
gpt
I--I--ain't old enough.
human
Am I to understand then, she shrieked,
gpt
Oh, no, no. I wouldn't. Of course I wouldn't, groaned the ghastly youth.
human
I'll promise _anything_, if you'll only let me go.