human
Florence, she said, finally,
gpt
I am the last woman on earth to pry into any one else's affairs (a conviction with regard to herself which is cherished by almost every woman),
human
That he was engaged to Miss Hosmer,--now Mrs. Stuyvesant,--that she broke it off, and that he has never cared for any one since? I know all about it, auntie,--mainly from his own lips.
gpt
Then all I've got to say is, you are the most extraordinary persons I ever met,--_both_ of you.
human
He hasn't, said Miss Allison, promptly and flatly.
gpt
He has simply been kind and friendly. He would have been discourteous, un-American, had he done anything less. It wasn't he who told her he never had cared or would care for any one after Miss Hosmer; Kate Lenox told her that, and so did other girls here. When, then, did Mr. Forrest inform her of his broken engagement? asked Aunt Lawrence.
human
On the steamer coming home, said Florence.
gpt
He couldn't help himself. I met Mrs. Stuyvesant in Washington last winter,--such a lovely woman,--and some one said she was once engaged to an army officer and it was broken off; she found she didn't love him enough to leave her luxurious home to live on the frontier among Indians. I don't know how her name came up, or what prompted me to talk as I did. I was saying that I thought her cruel, heartless, and that she should have considered all that before ever she engaged herself to him; and then he simply put up his hand, saying, 'Do not speak of it, Miss Allison: I was the man.' It fairly took my breath away, said Florence,--which her aunt could hardly believe,--