besides, they could be different in a minute if they wanted to be;
it isn't as if they were helpless.

"Miss Sellimer is witty and talented, and from the way she treats
me, I know she has a tender heart. And her mother is a perfect
wonder of a manager, and never makes mistakes except such as happen
to be the fad of the hour. And Mr. Edgerton Compton could be
splendid, for he seems to know everything, and when we travel with
him, or go to the parks and all that, people do just as he says, as
if he were a prince; he has a magnificent way of showering money on
porters and waiters and cabmen that is dazzling; and he holds
himself perfectly WITHOUT TRYING, and dresses so that you are glad
you're with him in a crowd; he knows what to do ALL the time about
EVERYTHING. But there he stops. I mean, he isn't trying to do
anything that matters. Neither are any of the rest.

"What they are working at now, is all they expect to work at as long
as they live--and it takes awfully hard work to keep up with their
set. They call it 'keeping in the swim,' and let me tell you what
it reminds me of--a strong young steer out in a 'tank,' using all
the strength he has just to keep on top of the water, instead of
swimming to shore and going somewhere. Society people don't go
anywhere; they use all their energy staying right where they are;
and if one of them loses grip and goes under--GOODNESS!

"I know what Mrs. Sellimer has set her heart on, because she has
already begun instructing me in her ideals. She wants her daughter
to marry a rich man, and Mr. Edgerton Compton isn't rich, he only
looks like he is. Mrs. Sellimer feels that she's terribly poor,
herself; it's the kind of poverty that has all it wants to eat and