You are like two men. I wish I could get behind that
horrid veil of flesh that hides you from me. I want to see your soul."
He smiled. "You are getting tired," he said. "Do let me persuade you to
come and have some lunch. When you begin to speculate, I know you have
done enough."
But Ideala could not go through the ordeal of who should pay for lunch
again. She preferred to starve. The _camaraderie_ between them was
mental enough to be manlike already, but only as long as there was no
question of material outlay.
"Mayn't I stay here and read?" she said. "I can have something by-and-
by, when I want it. Do go and leave me."
And he was obliged to go at last, wondering somewhat at her want of
appetite.
When he returned she was still working diligently, and they spent the
rest of the afternoon together, reading, writing, and chatting, until
it was time for Ideala to go. Lorrimer saw her into her train, and
fixed another day for her to return and go on with her work.
And so the thing became a settled arrangement. Whenever she could spare
the time she went and worked beside him, and he was always the same,
kindly, considerate, helping her now and then, but not, as a rule,
interfering with her.
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