human
Who are you?
gpt
I--why, I'm the Boy's sister, a low voice stammered.
human
He--sent me. I've a letter from him. My friends are outside. They will be here soon, but I--I came. You are--I suppose you are Man----
gpt
And I know you are Boy, Boy himself. I mean, he never was--for heaven's sake tell me--but no, I don't need to ask. I've got my Little Pal back again, that's all.
human
Oh, if I'd been sure you would guess--if I had known you would talk to me like this, I should not have dared to come.
gpt
Yes, you would. For you are brave; and you owed me this.
human
I'm ashamed to look you in the face. What must you think of me?
gpt
Think? I'm past thinking. I'm thanking the gods. If I could think at all it would be of myself, that I was a fool not to--and yet, _was_ I a fool? You _were_ a boy then. Even the Contessa----
human
Oh, don't! Where can we sit? I must tell you everything--explain everything. I can't wait. In a few minutes Molly and Jack will come.
gpt
Good heavens!
human
Yes. Didn't you guess? I'm the Perpetual Mushroom,--Mercédès--Roy--Laurence. Oh, Man, Man, how have I dared everything--and most of all this meeting? To fight that duel would have been easier. I think I would never have ventured after all, I would have stayed a Mushroom always, and let the Boy be buried and forgotten; but Molly wouldn't let me.
gpt
God bless Molly.
human
Will Monsieur have dinner served?
gpt
Dinner by-and-bye, I heard myself murmuring, as one brushes away a buzzing insect.
human
Yes,--dinner by-and-bye--for four.
gpt
Man,
human
Little Pal,
gpt
You know what a great blow I had, and how it made me very ill, she went on.
human
It was Molly Randolph who persuaded me that a complete change, and living in the open air--the open air of other countries where no one knew me or my troubles--would cure my heart, and mind, too.