Summary
Spending the autumn at home rather than the Bellomont,
Lily begins to save up her finances. She also takes interest in
philanthropy after being introduced to charitable giving by Gerty
Farish, something which will factor in more later in the novel.
Meanwhile, Carry Fisher invites her on an outing to the Adirondack
Mountains over Thanksgiving, to which Lily readily assents, enjoying
the trip very much.
Upon returning, Lily receives a visit from Simon Rosedale,
who invites her to the opera. He tells her that he knows of her
investment successes, which angers Lily because she now knows that
Gus Trenor has been telling people about her speculation. She goes
to the opera in order to show off her beautiful looks, and she decides
to forgive Trenor for telling people about her financial success.
Nevertheless, Trenor confronts Lily and tells her that she does
not spend enough time with him anymore; he thinks she is using him
only to handle her finances. Trenor is very angry and blunt as he
criticizes Lily, which scares her to some extent because she now
knows that Trenor feels that she owes him something. Later on at
the opera, Lily speaks with George Dorset, which reminds Lily that
she still has the letters that Bertha Dorset wrote to Selden. Instead
of using the letters against Bertha, Lily decides that she will
forgive Bertha even though she ruined Lily's chances of marrying
Gryce.
As the holiday season begins in New York, we learn that
the autumn made for bad trading on Wall Street, leaving thousands
of people poor. However, Rosedale has almost doubled his money after
investing in the right stocks. He is beginning to look upon Lily as
a potential bride.
Meanwhile, Lily is having troubles with her cousin, Grace
Stepney. Both women are vying for the affection of Mrs. Peniston,
and the resourceful Lily manages to deny Grace an invitation to
one of Mrs. Peniston's big dinner parties. In turn, Grace tells
Mrs. Peniston that Lily and Gus Trenor may be having an affair because
they have been seen walking alone together in the park. Grace suspects
that Lily has financial reasons for flirting with Trenor, and Grace
further tells Mrs. Peniston that Lily plays cards for money and
has accrued a gambling debt, news which infuriates Mrs. Peniston
and makes her angry with Lily.
We see that Lily enjoys spending time with George Dorset,
but she does not like being around Trenor, who is in an "unimaginable mood."
Trenor married young and has had difficulty relating to women, making
him unpredictable. He also lost a lot of money in the stock market
over the preceding several months. Nevertheless, Lily decides to
return to the Bellomont after the New Year, and she finds the house
inhabited by a different brand of people, who do not play bridge
and share little in common with one another. Lily tries to be a
unifying force, but meets with resistance because the others seem
unwilling to accept her leadership.
To establish the Bry family in the society, Mrs. Bry decides
to put on a large fashion show, to be organized by Carry Fisher,
in the Brys' conservatory. Lily is one of many people to participate
in this "tableaux vivante"—an art form in which people wear costumes
and pose in imitation of famous artistic works. (Tableaux vivants
were sometimes part of social gatherings and can be thought of as
art-inspired masquerade parties.) To prepare for the party Lily
adorns herself in her finest dress. Her visage is described by attendees
as both realistic and beautiful. At the show, Lily and Selden retreat
to the garden briefly, where they sit and talk on a bench. Selden
moves in and kisses Lily lightly, but Lily stresses that she cannot
marry him for financial reasons. They return to the house together,
where Trenor finds Lily and once again expresses his bitter feelings
toward her for not spending more time with him.
