 During the summer, Reed left Cape Cod to cover the Progressive Party convention in Chicago, and at other times he retreated from the players to work on articles for Collier's and Metropolitan Magazine. During these absences, Bryant and O'Neill became lovers, not surprising in a group that professed and practiced free love. Reed, made aware of this new development, responded by inviting O 'Neill to begin taking his meals with them. In a note to Field, Bryant said that her relationship with Reed was "so beautiful and so free! ... We don't interfere with each other at all ... we feel like children who will never grow up."
