Clarifying Lane Etiquette

I need some help here folks. Those of you who "know" me know that I am a beginning "serious" swimmer. I've been slowly but steadily working my way up to swimming a mile as my first goal I'm pleased with the progress I've made, feel stronger, dropped some pounds, added some muscle - all good stuff. Because I am a slower swimmer, I've tried to be careful not to get in the way of stronger swimmers' workouts. I try to enter lanes where I can match the pace and let people pass me if I get overtaken. Usually, if I share with just one other person, we split the lane down the middle rather than circle swim. This works out great. If we add another swimmer, we circle. I thought this was the norm for two people. This evening, though, I asked to share a wall lane with a man who was a faster swimmer. All the other lanes had 2 people. No one was circling. I suggested we split the lane, and he said, no - circle swim only. I warned him that I swim slowly, but no dice. Circle swim only. So we circle swam - no, he circle swam, and I got out of his way every 50-75 yards. I'm mad at myself because I messed my own workout up as I was pushing myself to swim faster and exhausted myself far short of my goal. So, please help me out here: is it wrong to split a lane with just 2 people? What is the "right" way to handle this situation? As I develop into a stronger swimmer, I feel I have a place at the pool. I'm just not just where that is. Many thanks - Barb