He was passed on to another lady who was already talking to two gentlemen, and, their volubility being greater than his own, he fell into the position of observer.

Instead of the profound questions he had somehow expected to hear raised, everybody seemed gossiping, or searching the heart of such topics as where to go this summer, or how to get new servants.

Trifling with coffee-cups, they dissected their fellow artists in the same way as his society friends of the other night had dissected the fellow--"smart"; and the varnish on the floor, the pictures, and the piano were reflected on all the faces around.

Shelton moved from group to group disconsolate.
A tall, imposing person stood under a Japanese print holding the palm of one hand outspread; his unwieldy trunk and thin legs wobbled in concert to his ingratiating voice.
"War," he was saying, "is not necessary.

War is not necessary.