and she detected

Let's go and dine in one of those nice smoky little restaurantsby the Place de la Bourse."He seemed surprised but relieved at the suggestion, and theyrolled off together. In a corner at Bauge's they found a quiettable, screened from the other diners, and while Vanderlynadjusted his eyeglasses to study the carte Susy stole a longlook at him. He was dressed with even more than his usualformal trimness, and she detected, in an ultra-flat wrist-watchand discreetly expensive waistcoat buttons, an attempt atsmartness altogether new. His face had undergone the samechange: its familiar look of worn optimism had been, as itwere, done up to match his clothes, as though a sort of moralcosmetic had made him pinker, shinier and sprightlier withoutreally rejuvenating him. A thin veil of high spirits had merelybeen drawn over his face, as the shining strands of hair wereskilfully brushed over his baldness. 　　"Here! Carte des vins, waiter! What champagne, Susy?" Hechose, fastidiously, the best the cellar could produce,grumbling a little at the bourgeois character of the dishes. 　　"Capital food of its kind, no doubt, but coarsish, don't youthink? Well, I don't mind ... it's rather a jolly change fromthe Luxe cooking. A new sensation--I'm all for new sensations,ain't you, my dear?" He re-filled their champagne glasses,flung an arm sideways over his chair, and smiled at her with afoggy benevolence. 　　As the champagne flowed his confidences flowed with it. 　　"Suppose you know what I'm here for--this divorce business? Wewanted to settle it quietly without a fuss, and of course Parisis the best place for that sort of job. Live and let live; noquestions asked. None of your dirty newspapers. Great country,this. No hypocrisy ... they understand Life over here!"Susy gazed and listened. She remembered that people had thoughtNelson would make a row when he found out. He had always beenaddicted to truculent anecdotes about unfaithful wives, and thevery formula of his perpetual ejaculation-- "Caught you at it,eh?"--seemed to hint at a constant preoccupation with suchideas. But now it was evident that, as the saying was, he had"swallowed his dose" like all the others. No strong blast ofindignation had momentarily lifted him above his normal stature: 　　he remained a little man among little men, and his eagerness torebuild his life with all the old smiling optimism reminded Susyof the patient industry of an ant remaking its ruined ant-heap.