Question: Is this sentence right?
The stranger smiled, his eyes traveled down her dress, then back to her face.
Answer: It’s two different sentences.
The stranger smiled. His eyes traveled down her dress and then back to her face.
The “and” is a preference in sentences structured like this one. The comma is unnecessary in the sentence that includes “and”. “Then” can be used as an adverb or an adjective but not as a conjunction. Discerning between “then” used correctly as an adverb and used incorrectly as a conjunction can be tricky, so use “and then” to be on the safe side. For more info go to http://www.mcrw.com/lovenotes/andthen.htm
