She went on smiling.
If only Clay were seeing all this! He had worked so hard. He had
a right to this wonderful hour, at least. If he had gone to the
front, to see Graham - but then it must be rather wonderful at the
front, too. She tried to visualize it; the guns quiet, and the
strained look gone from the faces of the men, with the wonderful
feeling that as there was to-day, now there would also be to-morrow.
She felt a curious shrinking from the people she knew. For this
one day she wanted to be alone. This peace was a thing of the soul,
and of the soul alone. She knew what it would be with the people
she knew best in Paris, - hastily arranged riotous parties, a
great deal of champagne and noise, and, overlying the real sentiment,
much sentimentality. She realized, with a faint smile, that the old
Audrey would have welcomed that very gayety. She was even rather
resentful with herself for her own aloofness.
She quite forgot luncheon, and early afternoon found her on the
balcony of the Crillon Hotel, overlooking the Place de la Concorde.
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