Then turning to the others, she waited on them after the same fashion.

For a minute or two there was silence in the room.
A strange silence, Claude thought, listening and wondering: as strange and embarrassing as the talk of the man who shared with Grio the table by the fireplace: as strange as the atmosphere about them, which hung heavy, to his fancy, and oppressive, fraught with unintelligible railleries, with subtle jests and sneers.

The girl went to and fro, from one to another, her face pale, her manner quiet.

And had he not seen her earlier with another look in her eyes, had he not detected a sinister something underlying the big man's good humour, he would have learned nothing from her; he would have fancied that all was as it should be in the house and in the company.
As it was he understood nothing.

But he felt that a something was wrong, that a something overhung the party.