human
Well, Jack, you _live_ well!
gpt
Yes, good cooking has become a _sine qua non_ with me, Dennison answered.
human
I don't take much, but it must be just so; I can't put up with even a trifling deficiency. I give Peppino very high wages for this economical land; but, on my side, I require of him unfailingly his very best skill. I am afraid, he added, with a quizzical smile,
gpt
Oh no,
human
Well on the way to it, then. Do you remember how lean I used to be?
gpt
You look in much better trim than you did when--
human
When I was young. You needn't hesitate about saying it; we're in the same box in that respect. How old do we call ourselves now?
gpt
We're fifty-two, answered Gray.
human
But I to-day look fifty-eight or nine, and you about forty. To me, Jack, it's marvellous--your youth.
gpt
Yes, I'm plump. I no longer worry; I take life easily. But it's such an immense change in every way that I've stopped watching it myself. Why, I remember when I liked pictures that tell a story, good heavens! and books with a moral, and iron-fronted blocks, and plenty of gaslight.
human
Well, it's awfully tempting,
gpt
Plenty of gaslight?
human
No; this place--the whole thing.