The friends watch the two make their way between other habitués masticating, drinking, crouched in a scrum of conversation[…]

Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.

Many an ancient commonplace is weird news to the nowaday ear.

Competition forced them to slash prices.