human
Of course, I have forfeited all right to question you as to your plans, Dominic, he said hurriedly and humbly.
gpt
I quite realise that. I believed I was acting on principle in keeping away from you, all the more because it pained me terribly to do so. I believed I was being consistent. Now I begin to fear I was only obstinate and cowardly. Your kindness of manner has completely unmanned me. I see how superior you are in liberality to myself. And so it cuts me to the quick, more than ever, to part from you.
human
Why should we part?
gpt
But you are going away. The wife told me she heard you were leaving London altogether; whether to--I hardly like to mention the supposition--to join some brotherhood or--or, to be married, she did not know.
human
Oh! no, no, my dear fellow, he answered.
gpt
Rumour must have been rather unpardonably busy with my name. I fear I am about equally ill-fitted for monastic and for married life. The day of splendid ventures, whether of religion or of love, is over for me; and I shall die, as I have lived, a bachelor and a layman. Nor shall I cease to be your neighbour, for I am only returning here --he pointed to the open door, in at which coatless white-aproned men carried that miscellaneous collection of furniture--
human
Iglesias' expression was exalted, his speech penetrated by enthusiasm.
gpt
It would be profitable and happy, he said,
human
Ah! it is all beyond me, quite beyond me, he exclaimed presently.
gpt
Mistaken or not, I see you are in touch with thoughts altogether outside my experience and comprehension. I supposed Romanism could only be held by uneducated and superstitious persons. I see I was wrong. I ask your pardon, Dominic. I see I quite undervalued it. Then his manner changed, quick perception and consequent distress seizing him.
human
Ah! but you are ill. That is the meaning of it all. You are ill. Now I come to observe you, I see how thin and drawn your face is. How shall I ever forgive myself for not finding that out sooner! I have differed from you and blamed you. I have sulked, and thought bitterly of you, and avoided you. I have even been envious, hearing how successfully you carried through affairs this anxious time at the bank. I have been a contemptibly mean-spirited individual. No, I can never forgive myself. I have found you again, only to lose you. You are in bad health. You have been suffering, and I never thought to inquire about that. I never knew it.