Johnyxxx
Senior Member
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2014
- Member Type
- Interested in Language
- Native Language
- Czech
- Home Country
- Czech Republic
- Current Location
- Czech Republic
Hello,
I would like if that refers to her attitude and what intimacy which is not the obvious kind of thing at all could mean. Does it mean the two lived together but there was no love affair, no boyfriend, no girfriend, no real love between them?
Something about the woman stuck uncomfortably in my mind, something less tangible than her appearance or even the things she had said. I could not put my finger on it, but in some way it was connected with her attitude toward Julian. What was there about that which was peculiar? Well, the way she had said "we" in speaking about the two of them. That suggested intimacy, of course, but not the obvious kind of thing at all. There was none of that spurious tenderness that she would have employed if she'd had what used to be called "designs" on him. No, it was something less analyzable than that. There was a tie between them, at least in her mind, but it was not, at any remove whatever, a sexual one. She spoke almost as if she and Julian were partners in some sort of enterprise. Having thought that, I dismissed it because it seemed to me impossible that I could be right. Julian was a great scientist in his way, narrow and limited though he might be outside the field of his own work. This woman was unthinkable in the role of his assistant or collaborator. I let the thought slip away from me.
Edge of Running Water, William Sloane, 1939.
Thank you very much.
I would like if that refers to her attitude and what intimacy which is not the obvious kind of thing at all could mean. Does it mean the two lived together but there was no love affair, no boyfriend, no girfriend, no real love between them?
Something about the woman stuck uncomfortably in my mind, something less tangible than her appearance or even the things she had said. I could not put my finger on it, but in some way it was connected with her attitude toward Julian. What was there about that which was peculiar? Well, the way she had said "we" in speaking about the two of them. That suggested intimacy, of course, but not the obvious kind of thing at all. There was none of that spurious tenderness that she would have employed if she'd had what used to be called "designs" on him. No, it was something less analyzable than that. There was a tie between them, at least in her mind, but it was not, at any remove whatever, a sexual one. She spoke almost as if she and Julian were partners in some sort of enterprise. Having thought that, I dismissed it because it seemed to me impossible that I could be right. Julian was a great scientist in his way, narrow and limited though he might be outside the field of his own work. This woman was unthinkable in the role of his assistant or collaborator. I let the thought slip away from me.
Edge of Running Water, William Sloane, 1939.
Thank you very much.
