He felt dull and heavy.

Deborah too, he noticed, after her first efforts to be welcoming and friendly, had gradually grown silent.

He saw her watching Laura with a mingled look of affection and of whimsical dismay.

Soon after dinner she left them, and Roger smoked with the boy for a while and learned that he was twenty-nine.
Both had grown uneasy and rather dull with each other.

It was a relief when again Laura joined them, dressed to go out.