She forced herself to meet Allison's eyes with a smile, to answer his
questions, and to put in a word, now and then, when Madame or the
Colonel paused. Yet, with every sense at its keenest, she noted Isabel's
downcast eyes, the self-conscious air with which Allison spoke to her,
and the exaggerated consideration of Juliet which he instinctively
adopted as a shield. She saw, too, that Isabel was secretly annoyed
whenever Allison spoke to Juliet, and easily translated the encouraging
air with which Isabel met Romeo's admiring glances. Once, when he
happened to turn quickly enough to see, a shadow crossed Allison's face,
and he bit his lips.
"How civilised the world has become," Madame was saying, lightly. "The
mere breaking of bread together precludes all open hostility. Bitter
enemies may meet calmly at the dinner table of a mutual friend, and I
understand that, in the higher circles in which we do not care to move,
a man may escort his divorced wife out to dinner, and, without
bitterness, congratulate her upon her approaching marriage."
"I've often thought," returned the Colonel, more seriously, "that the
modern marriage service should be changed to read 'until death or
divorce do us part.
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