human
He started so well, said his father.
gpt
And now....
human
And now?
gpt
Now he wants to marry the daughter of a stable-boy!
human
Raymond, I said;
gpt
I should say not! Why, Albert--
human
You have told him? He knows your--He knows the--the legend?
gpt
He does. And as you see, it makes no difference to him.
human
Why should it? Why should he care for early matters that were over and past long years before he was born? He sees what he sees. He feels what he feels.
gpt
He feels McComas.
human
Why shouldn't he? Who wouldn't?
gpt
And then, he began,
human
Know? I returned.
gpt
If he does, he has the advantage over all the rest of us. _I_ don't 'know.' _You_ don't 'know.' Neither does anybody else. Another old matter--as well rectified as society and its usages can manage, and best left alone.
human
Well, it's--it's indelicate. Albert ought to feel that.
gpt
Raymond! I protested.
human
We must leave it to the young to smooth over the rough old places and to salve the aching old sores. That's their great use and function.
gpt
Not Albert's, he said stubbornly.
human
I don't want him to do it, and I don't want it done in that way.
gpt
It's a desertion, said the undying egoist.
human
It's a piece of treachery. It's a going over to the enemy.
gpt
If you mean McComas, Albert went over months ago. And he doesn't seem to have lost anything by doing so,
human
This marriage would clinch it, would confirm it. I should lose him at last, and completely, just as I have lost--everything.
gpt
Raymond, I could scarcely keep from saying,
human
I have heard them spoken of, he said, after a little,
gpt
Raymond! I protested again, with even more vigor than before.
human
Why must you say a thing like that?
gpt
The same father and mother--now. Living together--going about together as members of one family.... They did, you know.
human
Yes, for a few weeks in the year. 'One family'? What is the mere label? Nothing. What is the real situation? Everything. Of blood-relationship not a trace. Why, even cousins marry--but here are two strains absolutely different.... Have you, I asked,
gpt
You have! And he says what I say!