"It seems so selfish to go alone."

"Are you going alone?"

The question was forced from Isaacson. His mind had held it all the
evening, and now irresistibly expelled it into words.

Nigel's strong fingers closed more tightly on his arm.

"I don't want to go alone."

"I would far rather be alone than not have the exactly right
companion--some one who could think and feel with me, and in the sort of
way I feel. Any other companionship is destructive."

Isaacson spoke with less than his usual self-possession, and there were
traces of heat in his manner.

"Don't you agree with me?" he added, as Nigel did not speak.

"People can learn to feel alike."

"You mean that when two natures come together, the stronger eventually
dominates the weaker. I should not like to be dominated, nor should I
like to dominate. I love mutual independence combined with perfect
sympathy."

Even while he was speaking, he was struck by his own exigence, and
laughed, almost ironically.