“That’s a bit of a change for you,” he said.
His words seemed absurd to him, and immediately he wished he had not said them. Philip flushed darkly.
“A bit,” he said. “By the way, I owe you five bob.”
He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out some silver.
“Oh, it doesn’t matter. I’d forgotten all about it.”
“Go on, take it.”
Lawson received the money silently. They stood in the middle of the pavement, and people jostled them as they passed. There was a sardonic twinkle in Philip’s eyes, which made the painter intensely uncomfortable, and he could not tell that Philip’s heart was heavy with despair. Lawson wanted dreadfully to do something, but he did not know what to do.
“I say, won’t you come to the studio and have a talk?”
“No,” said Philip.
“Why not?”