human
Elcot, she said,
gpt
I want you to tell me exactly what happened at the settlement.
human
I hadn't arrived at the beginning of it, the man replied.
gpt
I had a talk with Thorne afterward, however, and he confirmed my conclusion that Nevis had been informing anybody who cared to hear that you were in the habit of borrowing money from him. This was objectionable in itself, but he added in my hearing that I knew nothing about your action, and the way in which he said it was insufferable.
human
What did you do about it?
gpt
First of all, I denied the most damaging statement--that I knew nothing about the thing. It seemed necessary to prove the contrary, which I did, though I had to admit the borrowing.
human
And then?
gpt
I paid off the loans.
human
Here are your notes. I feel compelled to say that unless you get my consent beforehand you must never incur a liability of the kind again.
gpt
I shall never wish to, Florence answered penitently.
human
We'll talk about that afterward; I want you to go on. You haven't told me the whole of it yet.
gpt
What do you expect to hear?
human
I should like to hear that you had thrashed the man until he could scarcely stand!
gpt
Well, I'm afraid I didn't go as far as that, though it wasn't because the desire to do so failed me. As it happens, there's a good deal more courage in the fellow than I ever gave him credit for, and it's unfortunate that virtuous indignation doesn't make up for an inequality in muscular weight. He stopped a moment and laughed outright.
human
Still, I believe I got in once or twice with the quirt, which is consoling to remember, and I dare say I should have left another mark or two on him if the lamp hadn't suddenly been put out. On taxing Symonds with it afterward, he admitted that he was afraid his wife would make trouble if the room should be wrecked.
gpt
Would it please you, Elcot, if I were to say that I'm very proud of that cut on your lip--though I'm horribly ashamed of being the cause of it? In any case, it's the simple truth.
human
We'll take it for granted, replied Hunter, looking at her searchingly.
gpt
The trouble is that this matter has forced on a crisis. It's evident that our relations can't remain as they are just now.
human
You don't find them satisfactory?
gpt
No. Hunter broke into a harsh laugh.
human
I don't know how I have borne with them as long as I have, though I've resolutely tried to fall in with your point of view. Anyway, I can't go on living with, and at the same time utterly apart from, you. It might have been possible if I had never been fond of you.
gpt
Nobody could have blamed you if you had grown out of that regard for me,
human
The difficulty is that I haven't done so, Hunter declared more quietly, though there was still a trace of harshness in his tone.
gpt
As you imply, it's perhaps unreasonable of me, but there the fact is. The question is, What am I going to do?
human
Elcot, she murmured,
gpt
I really must have tried your patience very hard now and then, but just now I'm glad you find this state of things unbearable. Would it be very difficult to go back a few years and begin again--differently?
human
I'm afraid, he answered slowly,
gpt
Then it's fortunate that a change is not impossible to me--in fact, I think I've changed a good deal already. It rather hurt me, Elcot, that you didn't seem to notice it.
human
I noticed it, he said;
gpt
Afraid it wouldn't last? Florence reproached him.
human
Well, I suppose that is not so very astonishing--but I think this change will go on, and grow greater steadily. Anyway, I want it to.
gpt
You're rather a reserved person, Elcot, and it will no doubt be a relief to you if we become severely practical. Besides, I want to show you how determined I am. Now that you have paid off my debts, we'll get out the account-books, and you shall decide how I'm to carry on the homestead.
human
No accounts to-night. It's beginning to strike me that both of us might have been happier if I hadn't thought about them so much. After all, I dare say it isn't wise to give economic questions the foremost place.
gpt
Ah! exclaimed Florence,
human
Well, she continued,
gpt
I'll probably embarrass you if I go on in this strain--you seem to get uneasy when you venture ever so little out of your shell. For a change, you can read me the paper you brought from the settlement, and I won't grumble if it's about the markets and the price of wheat.