human
Poor Felicia, she said, when she had returned up the stairs to the drawing-room;
gpt
They? said Mrs. North.
human
Well, then, I wish she could, responded Mrs. Tracy. Going to the terrace door, she looked out.
gpt
Where is Dorothy?
human
I sent her to bed; she was almost asleep in the hammock. If there is one thing she likes better than another, it is to curl herself up in some impossible place and fall asleep. Would you mind closing the glass doors? The nightingales hoot so.
gpt
What do you mean by saying that you wish she could? Mrs. North went on.
human
You wouldn't have Alan Mackenzie marry that plain-looking, ill-tempered old maid, would you?
gpt
Perhaps she is ill-tempered just because she is an old maid, Laura. And as to looks--if she were happy--
human
Mercy! Are the Mackenzie millions to be devoted to the public charity of making a Felicia Philipps happy?
gpt
Why, isn't it as good an object as a picture-gallery? Or even an orphan asylum? Felicia would be a great deal happier than all the happiness combined of the whole three hundred orphans out at St. Martin's at a Christmas dinner,
human
Absurd! Rose Hatherbury is the one--if it's any one in Florence.
gpt
Oh, Rose is too young for him.
human
In years, yes. But Rose's heart can be any age she pleases. Alan isn't really old in the least; but he was born middle-aged; he is the essence of middle-age and mediocrity; one always knows beforehand what he will say, for it will simply be, on every occasion, the most polite and the most commonplace thing that could possibly be devised under the circumstances. How came you to ask him to stay to dinner?
gpt
Felicia made me. Funny, wasn't it, to see Waddy hang on, hoping for an invitation too.
human
You might have given him one. It would have entertained Dorothy.
gpt
Well, to tell the truth, Laura, I am a little afraid of Waddy; he _is_ so handsome!
human
She doesn't care for him.
gpt
She likes him.
human
Yes, as she likes a dozen more. If she has a fancy for one over another, it is, I think, for Owen Charrington, continued the mother.
gpt
She would have to live in England. But I dare say his people would take to her; they are very nice, you know--his people.
human
How can you talk so! Dorothy is thoroughly American; she would be wretched in England. When she marries--which I hope won't be for five or six years more--she must marry one of our own countrymen, of course. The idea!
gpt
Very well; I've no objection. But in that case we must take her home again before long,