human
Do you know, she said,
gpt
I have never been more intrigued than when I heard you were really coming down here. Last summer I was in Scotland--in fact I have been away every time the Manor has been open. I am so anxious to know whether you like this part of the world.
human
I like it so much, he replied,
gpt
You will never be able to do that, she said,
human
If you read the newspapers, he remarked, a little grimly,
gpt
Rubbish! Your defeat at Hellesfield was a matter of political jobbery. Any one could see through that. Horlock ought never to have sent you there. He ought to have found you a perfectly safe seat, and of course he will have to do it.
human
I am not so sure. Horlock resents my defeat almost as though it were a personal matter. Besides, it is an age of young men, Lady Jane.
gpt
Young men! she scoffed.
human
But you are young.
gpt
Am I? he answered, a little sadly.
human
I am not feeling it just now. Besides, there is something wrong about my enthusiasms. They are becoming altogether too pastoral. I am rather thinking of taking up the cultivation of roses and of making a terraced garden down to the sea. Do you know anything about gardening, Lady Jane?
gpt
Of course I do, she answered, a little impatiently.
human
A very excellent hobby it is for women and dreamers and elderly men. There is plenty of time for you to take up such a pursuit when you have finished your work.
gpt
Fifteen thousand intelligent voters have just done their best to tell me that it is already finished,
human
Am I going to be disappointed in you, I wonder? she asked.
gpt
I don't think so. You surely wouldn't let a little affair like one election drive you out of public life? It was so obvious that you were made the victim for Horlock's growing unpopularity in the country. Haven't you realised that yourself--or perhaps you don't care to talk about these things to an ignoramus such as I am?
human
Please don't believe that, he begged hastily.
gpt
I think yours is really the common-sense view of the matter. Only, he went on,
human
I have always represented, amongst the coalitionists, the moderate Socialist, the views of those men who recognise the power and force of the coming democracy, and desire to have legislation attuned to it. Yet it was the Democratic vote which upset me at Hellesfield.
gpt
That was entirely a matter of faction, she persisted.
human
That horrible person Miller was sent down there, for some reason or other, to make trouble. I believe if the election had been delayed another week, and you had been able to make two more speeches like you did at the Corn Exchange, you would have got in.
gpt
That is exactly what I thought myself, he agreed.
human
How on earth do you come to know all these things?
gpt
I take an interest in your career, she said, smiling at him,