Sentence:  [E]mbarrassment . . . had decided Bryce not to mention the matter of the girl to John Cardigan until the <WSD>entente cordiale</WSD> between Pennington and his father could be reestablished. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A friendly relationship, especially one between parties who might otherwise be adversaries or, at least, wary of one another.