The result was satisfactory.

The improvement in her appearance made her feel braver.

She couldn't have faced these people--she did not know whether to think of them as intimate enemies or hostile friends--if she had been looking anything but her best.
But they were just what she needed; they would be hard and amusing and keep her at some tension.

She thought rather crossly that she could not sit through a meal at home and listen to Mathilde rambling on about love and Mr.Farron.
She was inexcusably late, and they had sat down to luncheon--three men and two women--by the time she arrived.

They had all been, or had wanted to go, to an auction sale of _objets d'art_ that had taken place the night before.