She just came and went as she pleased, and as she
would have done had he been her brother. Sometimes they were alone
together for hours, sometimes his secretary worked in the room with
them, and always there were people coming and going. There was nothing
to suggest a thought of impropriety, and they were soon on quarrelling
terms, falling out about a great many things--which is always the sign
of a good understanding; but after the first they touched on no
dangerous subject for a long time. At last, however, there came a
change. Ideala noticed one day that Lorrimer was restless and
irritable.
"Am I interfering with your work to-day?" she said. "Do tell me. Any
other day will suit me just as well."
"Oh, no," he answered. "I am lazy, that is all. How are you getting on?
Let me see." And he took the paper she was engaged upon, and looked at
it.
She watched him, and saw that he was not reading, although he held it
before his eyes for some time. He was paler than usual, and there was a
look of indecision in his face, very unlike its habitual expression,
which was serene and self-contained.
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