from her and they tantalized her.

At the same moment her husband was saying in reply, "Just as good, but
not necessarily any better. No--other things being equal--not so good.
We mustn't deceive ourselves with that piece of cant. Some of them are
frivolous enough, and dishonest enough, heaven knows, but so there are
frivolous and dishonest people in every class. But there are many more
who endeavor to be good citizens--are good citizens, our best citizens.
The possession of money gives them the opportunity to become arbiters of
morals and taste, and to seek culture under the best advantages. After
all, an accumulation of money represents brains and energy in some one.
Look at this swell," he continued, indicating an attractive looking
young man who was passing. "His grandfather was one of the ablest men in
the city--an intelligent, self-respecting, shrewd, industrious,
public-spirited citizen who made a large fortune. The son has had
advantages which I have never had, and I happen to know that he is a
fine fellow and a very able one. If it came to comparisons, I should be
obliged to admit that he's a more ornamental member of society than
Jones, Brown, or Robinson, and certainly no less useful. Do I shock
you--you sweet, unswerving little democrat of the democrats?"

It always pleased Selma to be called endearing names, and it suited her
in her present frame of mind to be dubbed a democrat, for it did not
suit her to be painfully realizing that she was unable, at one brilliant
swoop, to take her place as a leader in social influence. Somehow she
had expected to do this, despite her first difficulties at Benham, for
she had thought of New York as a place where, as the wife of Littleton,
the architect, she would at once be a figure of importance. She shook
her head and said, "It's hard to believe that these people are really in
earnest; that they are serious in purpose and spirit." Meanwhile she was