noon
In fact , I suppose I occupied most of her time between the few literary courses she was taking , and little by little I began to see that in other respects besides the physical she was not so far from my ideal . Beneath her impudence was honesty , and frankness , and , despite herself , sweetness , so that even allowing for the head-start I 'd had , I fell in love pretty hastily . And what 's more , I knew she was beginning to reciprocate . That was the situation when I called for her one noon and took her over to van Manderpootz 's laboratory . We were to lunch with him at the University Club , but we found him occupied in directing some experiment in the big laboratory beyond his personal one , untangling some sort of mess that his staff had blundered into . So Denise and I wandered back into the smaller room , perfectly content to be alone together . I simply could n't feel hungry in her presence ; just talking to her was enough of a substitute for food .