To discuss pragmatism while eating oysters would be destructive to the enjoyment afforded by the delicate sense of taste, whereas, to let one's mind wander from the plane of philosophic thought when preparing for a Hauptmann or a Strindberg play would lead to nothing less than the disaster of disequilibrium." Saying this he caught my cold, unsympathetic gaze, but I think I noticed the flicker of an eyelid.

Doria, however, nodded, in wide-eyed approval.
So I suppose they really did practise between themselves these modal gymnastics.

They were all of a piece with the "atmospheres" evoked in the various rooms of the flat.

To Barbara and myself, comfortable Philistines, all this appeared exceeding lunatic.

But every married couple has a right to lay out its plan of happiness in its own way.