human
Have you a name?
gpt
Naturally.
human
Favour me with it.
gpt
John Vanbrugh.
human
A stormy night to seek you out, said John Vanbrugh,
gpt
Stop there, interrupted the Advocate.
human
I admit no idea of a renewal of friendship between us.
gpt
You reject my friendship?
human
Distinctly.
gpt
So be it. Our interview shall be conducted without a thought of friendship, though some reference to the old days cannot be avoided. I make no apology for presenting myself in this condition. Man can no more rule the storm than he can the circumstances of his life. I have run some distance through the rain, and I have been attacked and almost killed. You perceive that I am exhausted, yet you do not offer me wine. You have it, I know, in that snug cupboard there. May I help myself? Thank you. Ah, there's a smack of youth in this liquor. It is life to one who has passed through such dangers as have encompassed me. You received my letter asking for an interview? I gave it myself into your hands on the last evening of the trial.
human
I received it.
gpt
Yet you were unwilling to accord me an interview.
human
I had no desire to meet you again.
gpt
It was ungrateful of you, for it is upon your own business--yours and no other man's--that I wished to speak with you. It was cold work out on the hill yonder, watching the lights in your study window, watching for the simple waving of a handkerchief, which would mean infinitely more to you than to me, as you will presently confess. Dreary cold work, not likely to put a man like myself in an amiable mood. I am not on good terms with the world, as you may plainly perceive. I have had rough times since the days you deemed it no disgrace to shake hands with me. I have sunk very low by easy descents; you have risen to a giddy height. I wonder whether you have ever feared the fall. Men as great as you have met with such a misfortune. Things do not last for ever, Edward--pardon me. it was a slip of the tongue.
human
Do you come to beg?
gpt
No--for a reason. If I came on such an errand, I might spare myself the trouble.
human
Likely enough,
gpt
You were never renowned for your charities. And on the other hand I am poor, but I am not a beggar. I am frank enough to tell you I would prefer to steal. It is more independent, and not half so disgraceful. It may happen that the world would take an interest in a thief, but never in a beggar.
human
Is it to favour me with your philosophies that you pay me this visit?
gpt
I should be the veriest dolt. No, I will air my opinions when I am rich.
human
You intend, poor as you confess yourself, to become rich?
gpt
With your help, old friend.
human
Not with my help. You will receive none from me.
gpt
You are mistaken. Forgive me for the contradiction, but I speak on sure ground. Ah, how I have heard you spoken of! With what admiration and esteem! Almost with awe by some. Your talents, of themselves, could not have won this universal eulogy; it is your spotless character that has set the seal upon your fame. There is not a stain upon it; you have no weaknesses, no blemishes; you are absolutely pure. Other men have something to conceal--some family difficulty, some domestic disgrace, some slip in the path of virtue, which, were it known, would turn the current against them. But against you there is not a breath; scandal has never soiled you. In this lies the strength of your position--in this lies its danger. Let shame, with cause, point its finger at you--old friend, the result is unpleasant to contemplate. For when a man such as you falls, he does not fall gradually. He topples over suddenly, and to-day he is as low in the gutter as yesterday he was high in the clouds.
human
You have said enough. I do not care to listen to you further. The tone you assume is offensive to me--such as I would brook from no man. You can go the way you came.
gpt
When I inform you which way I came, said Vanbrugh, with easy insolence,
human
Which way, then, did you come?
gpt
The way Gautran came--somewhat earlier than this, it is true, but not earlier than midnight.
human
You know that?
gpt
Aye, I know that, and also that you feasted him, and gave him money.
human
Are you accomplices, you two knaves?
gpt
If so, I have at present the best of the bargain. But your surmise is not made with shrewdness. I never set eyes on Gautran until after he was pronounced innocent of the murder of Madeline. On that night I--shall we say providentially?--made his acquaintance.
human
You have met him since then?
gpt
Yes--this very night; our interview was one never to be forgotten. Come, I have been frank with you; I have used no disguises. I say to you honestly, the world has gone hard with me; I have known want and privation, and I am in a state of destitution. That is a condition of affairs sufficient not only to depress a man's spirits, but to make him disgusted with the world and mankind. I have, however, still some capacity for enjoyment left in me, and I would give the world another trial, not as a penniless rogue, but as a gentleman.
human
Hard to accomplish,
gpt
Not with a full purse. No music like the jingling of gold, and the world will dance to the tune. Well, I present myself to you, and ask you, who are rich and can spare what will be the making of me, to hand me from your full store as much as will convert a poor devil into a respectable member of society.
human
I appreciate your confidence. I leave you to supply the answer.
gpt
You will give me nothing?
human
Nothing.
gpt
Mind--I do not ask it of your charity; I ask it of your prudence. It will be worth your while.
human
That has to be proved.
gpt
Good. We have made a commencement. Your reputation is worth much--in sober truth as much as it has brought you. But I am not greedy. It lies at my mercy, and I shall be content with a share.
human
That is generous of you, said the Advocate, who by this time had regained his composure;
gpt
Only beginning? That is well. I advise you to keep a tight rein over it, and to ask yourself whether it is likely--considering the difference of our positions--that I should be here talking in this bold tone unless I held a power over you? I put it to you as a lawyer of eminence.
human
There is reason in what you say.
gpt
Let me see. What have I to sell? The security of your reputation? The power to prevent your name being uttered with horror? Your fame--your honour? Yes, I have quite that to dispose of, and as a man of business, which I never was until now, I recognise the importance of being precise. First--I have to sell my knowledge that, after midnight, you received Gautran in your study, that you treated him as a friend, and filled his pockets with gold. How much is that worth?
human
Nothing. My word against his, against yours, against a hundred such as you and he.
gpt
You would deny it?
human
Assuredly--to protect myself.