because there's some sense in it all. As Gregory says, it's best to look
things squarely in the face. Most of the people in these different sets
are somebodies because either their grandfathers or they have done
something well--better than other people, and made money as a
consequence. And when a family has made money or won distinction by its
brains and then has brushed its teeth twice a day religiously for two
generations, the members of it, even though dull, are entitled to
respect, don't you think so?"

Selma, who brushed her teeth but once a day, looked a little sharp at
Flossy.

"It makes money of too much importance and it establishes class
distinctions. I don't approve of such a condition of affairs at all."

Flossy shrugged her shoulders. "I have never thought whether I approve
of it or not. I am only telling you what exists. I don't deny that money
counts for a great deal, for, as Gregory says, money is the measure of
success. But money isn't everything. Brains count and refinement, and
nice honorable ways of looking at things. Of course, I'm only telling
you what my ambition is. People have different kinds of bees in their
bonnets. Some men have the presidential bee; I have the social bee. I
should like to be recognized as a prominent member of the charmed circle
on my own merits and show my cousins that I am really worthy of their
attention. There are a few who are able to be superior to that sort of
thing, who go on living their own lives attractively and finely, without
thinking of society, and who suddenly wake up some day to find
themselves socially famous--to find that they have been taken up. That's
the best way, but one requires to be the right sort of person and to
have a lot of moral courage. I can imagine it happening to you and your