human
She is turning out a saint rather than a sinner,
gpt
Just wait awhile. Many people can be heroic in great things, but are sadly deficient when it comes to the little things, said Grace, with her usual caution.
human
I believe I could be a heroine myself, if some grand opportunity came,
gpt
Oh, Grace, don't trifle so; you know this is a very serious matter with Mr. and Mrs. Hayden, and they are both doing nobly,
human
Well, queen Katherine, I don't mean any harm, and you must not think anything of my brusque speeches. As you know, there is a tinge of skepticism in me which I can not help, and my ideals are so much higher than the realities of life, that I am always painfully conscious of the difference.
gpt
Well, what would you wish Mrs. Hayden to be like, for instance, in order to come up to your ideal of the heroic woman?
human
Kate dear, I love Mrs. Hayden as much as you do, and would not for a moment disparage her virtues, but it strikes me as a philosophical fact that as a rule, human nature can and does display wonderful courage in great emergencies, but fails miserably in details, and this ought not to be so. Nothing would please me better than to see one life prove that I am wrong.
gpt
That is all true, Gracie, about humanity in general, but she is lovely, and I am sorry for her having to be lame all her life. It's a perfect shame that she must lose even her health, for of course she will never be strong again.
human
Another defect to be noted somewhere in the universal economy. It seems to me we are pretty helpless creatures, generally speaking, for it all appears to be a matter of chance whether we get well or not, when we _do_ get sick,