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When the opening night of the opera came, her apprehensions had socompletely vanished that the sight of Trenor’s ruddy countenance in theback of Mr. Rosedale’s box filled her with a sense of pleasantreassurance. Lily had not quite reconciled herself to the necessity ofappearing as Rosedale’s guest on so conspicuous an occasion, and it was arelief to find herself supported by any one of her own set—for Mrs.Fisher’s social habits were too promiscuous for her presence to justifyMiss Bart’s. Moreovershe had not seen Trenor since the day of the Van Osburgh wedding, and inhis continued absence the trace of Rosedale’s words was soon effaced byother impressions. Miss Bart had received one or twonotes from Judy Trenor, reproaching her for not returning to Bellomont;but she replied evasively, alleging the obligation to remain with heraunt. In truth, however, she was fast wearying of her solitary existencewith Mrs. Peniston, and only the excitement of spending hernewly-acquired money lightened the dulness of the days. Meanwhile, as October advanced she had to face the alternative ofreturning to the Trenors or joining her aunt in town.
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Rumors spread about Lily’s involvement in this scandal, further harming her reputation. Regina’s, a hat-maker’s, although bad health and poor hat-making skills cause her to get fired. In the space of a few months, Lily thus finds herself condemned to living a working-class life, far from the comforts of her previous circle.
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Review: The House of Mirth.
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Setting
“Goodbye,” she said, and as he bent over her she touched hisforehead with her lips. The latter had already planned to return to town after a farewell Sundaywith her friends; and, with Gerty Farish’s aid, had discovered a smallprivate hotel where she might establish herself for the winter. In reality, it was impossiblefor her, while she had the means to pay her way for a week ahead, tolapse into a form of existence like Gerty Farish’s.
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Theprice of the dressing-case was still in her pocket; and drawing out herlittle gold purse she slipped a liberal fraction of the amount into MissFarish’s hand. In her own room Lily turned up the gas-jet and glanced toward the grate.It was as brilliantly polished as the one below, but here at least shecould burn a few papers with less risk of incurring her aunt’sdisapproval. She made no immediate motion to do so, however, but droppinginto a chair looked wearily about her. Her room was large andcomfortably-furnished—it was the envy and admiration of poor GraceStepney, who boarded; but, contrasted with the light tints and luxuriousappointments of the guest-rooms where so many weeks of Lily’s existencewere spent, it seemed as dreary as a prison. The monumental wardrobe andbedstead of black walnut had migrated from Mr. Peniston’s bedroom, andthe magenta “flock” wall-paper, of a pattern dear to the early ’sixties,was hung with large steel engravings of an anecdotic character.
“She gets everything, of course—I don’t see what we’re here for,” Mrs.Jack Stepney remarked with careless loudness to Ned Van Alstyne; and thelatter’s deprecating murmur—“Julia was always a just woman”—might havebeen interpreted as signifying either acquiescence or doubt. Suddenly it struck him that his silence must seem almost as accusatory asthat of the men he had despised for turning from her; but before he couldfind the fitting word she had cut him short with a question. In the thronged restaurant, taking their places about Mrs. Bry’silluminated board, their confidence seemed to gain support from thefamiliarity of their surroundings.
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Lily turned to obey; but as she did so, Mrs. Dorset, who had paused onher way out, moved a few steps back toward the table. It was in Bertha’s interest, certainly, that she had despatched Dorset toconsult with Lawrence Selden. Once the grotesqueness of the situationaccepted, she had seen at a glance that it was the safest in which Dorsetcould find himself. Who but Selden could thus miraculously combine theskill to save Bertha with the obligation of doing so?
The mere touch of the packet thrilled her tired nerves with thedelicious promise of a night of sleep, and in the reaction from hermomentary fear she felt as if the first fumes of drowsiness were alreadystealing over her. Gerty’s quest, at any rate, brought up against a solid wall ofresistance; and even when Carry Fisher, momentarily penitent for hershare in the Hatch affair, joined her efforts to Miss Farish’s, they metwith no better success. Gerty had tried to veil her failure in tenderambiguities; but Carry, always the soul of candour, put the case squarelyto her friend. To Gerty Farish’s hopeful spirit a solution appeared to have been reachedwhen she remembered how beautifully Lily could trim hats. Selden’s avoidance of Miss Bart had not been as unintentional as he hadallowed his cousin to think. The revelation of thissuddenly-established intimacy effectually chilled his desire to see her.If, at a moment when her whole life seemed to be breaking up, she couldcheerfully commit its reconstruction to the Gormers, there was no reasonwhy such accidents should ever strike her as irreparable.
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But she put aside the thought with a smile at her ownfears, and hastened downward, wondering if she should find a cab short ofFifth Avenue. “Don’t you see,” she continued, “that there are men enough to saypleasant things to me, and that what I want is a friend who won’t beafraid to say disagreeable ones when I need them? Sometimes I havefancied you might be that friend—I don’t know why, except that you areneither a prig nor a bounder, and that I shouldn’t have to pretend withyou or be on my guard against you.” Her voice had dropped to a note ofseriousness, and she sat gazing up at him with the troubled gravity of achild. Despite the severe blow of Bertha’s betrayal, which reminds Lily of her difficult financial situation, Lily succeeds in convincing Gus Trenor to invest some money for her on the stock market, since he has been benefiting from a successful “tip” given to him by Simon Rosedale.
For she could not go to Gerty’s without risk of meeting Selden;and to meet him now would be pure pain. It was pain enough even to thinkof him, whether she considered him in the distinctness of her wakingthoughts, or felt the obsession of his presence through the blur of hertormented nights. In the uneasy snatches of her natural dreamshe came to her sometimes in the old guise of fellowship and tenderness;and she would rise from the sweet delusion mocked and emptied of hercourage.
“Thank you—I shall be very glad,” she madeanswer, in the first sincere words she had ever spoken to him. “I do mean that; Gerty told me of it,” Selden acknowledged withoutembarrassment. He was too much in earnest now to feel any falseconstraint in speaking his mind. But Gerty Farish’s words had sufficed to make him see how little thisview was really his, and how impossible it was for him to live quietlywith the thought of Lily Bart.
The proceeds from this speculation will help her pay her gambling debts and other expenses necessary to keep up appearances. The investment pays off for Lily financially, as Gus intends that it should, but the friendship turns sour when Lily is unwilling to exchange romantic attention for money the way Gus believes she tacitly agrees to do. Bertha Dorset (Mrs. George Dorset)—A petite and pretty high-society matron whose husband George is extremely wealthy. She is first introduced catching the train to Bellomont where she boards with great fanfare and commotion. She demands that the porter find her a seat with her friends, Lily and Percy.
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