human
You are charming as ever, Shining One! And in years to come you will be still more charming. That is the beauty of having a name taken direct from the classics and bestowed as a good fairy's gift----
gpt
Thank you, monsieur--but you have translated my name at least twenty times, and I am weary of hearing it,
human
Poor taste, mademoiselle, to grow weary of such beauty!
gpt
Not of the name, but of your exegesis upon it. Why should I not be displeased? Last night you were positively rude, and now you decry my taste! Did you leave all your manners in France, M. le prince?
human
Some of them, yes--and all that prince stuff with them.
gpt
This is a lovey and loveable home of yours, Lucie! he exclaimed, gravely.
human
So few homes are worthy the name; so few have in them the intimate air of use and friendliness--why are so many furnished from bargain sales? This place is touched with repose and sweetness; to come and sit here is a privilege. It is like being in another world, after all the money striving and the dollar madness of the city.
gpt
Oh! The girl's gaze searched him curiously.
human
I hope you're not going to take the fine artistic pose that it is a crime to make money?
gpt
Not much! I want to make money myself; that's one reason I'm in New Orleans. Still, you cannot deny that there is a craze about the eternal clutching after dollars. I can't make the dollar sign the big thing in life, Lucie. You couldn't, either.
human
You seem to have the European notion that all Americans are dollar chasers!
gpt
In a sense, yes; why not? he answered.
human
I am an American. I am a dollar chaser, and not ashamed of it. I am going into business here. Once it is a success, I shall go on; I shall see America, I shall come to know this whole country of mine, all of it! I have been a month in New Orleans--do you know, a strange thing happened to me only a few days after I arrived here!
gpt
In France I met a man, an American sergeant named Hammond. It was just at the close of things. We had adjoining cots at Nice----
human
Ah! she exclaimed, quickly.
gpt
I remember, you wrote about him--the man who had been wounded in both legs! Did he get well? You never said.