"I've given you a lot of trouble," she rejoined gratefully.
She placed two guineas on a side table. He picked up the coins and handed them back to her.
"Certainly not."
"But—please? You can't do it for nothing."
"I haven't done it for nothing. If you want to recompense me, you can quite easily. I should be honored if you will lunch with me. Will you?"
"But," she hesitated, "I don't go out to lunch with anybody—ever."
"That's why I said I should be honored if you would. Come, we're quite friends. I've seen you four times for ten minutes!"
She wanted to accept. After all, as she had expressed it to Maggy when Woolf had asked her out, there was no harm in lunching with a man. She was reminded of that opinion, now that it applied to herself. She wanted to accept Meer's invitation, but was held back by a suspicion of what these lunches, suppers and dinners were meant to lead to. Men seemed to think that a girl on the stage could be bought for the price of a dinner! And then, in her indecision, she looked at Meer, saw the friendly eagerness in his face, and let reason give way to inclination.
"I don't want to refuse," she said.
Five minutes later they were on their way to the Carlton. Meer would have preferred enjoying her society in a less popular place, but there was a matinée that day and the Pall Mall was so close to the great restaurant.