"But her set is really much the smartest," complimented Aileen's
companion.

Thereafter it was Aileen's ambition to associate with Mrs. Anson
Merrill, to be fully and freely accepted by her. She did not know,
although she might have feared, that that ambition was never to
be realized.

But there were others who had called at the first Cowperwood home,
or with whom the Cowperwoods managed to form an acquaintance.
There were the Sunderland Sledds, Mr. Sledd being general traffic
manager of one of the southwestern railways entering the city, and
a gentleman of taste and culture and some wealth; his wife an
ambitious nobody. There were the Walter Rysam Cottons, Cotton
being a wholesale coffee-broker, but more especially a local social
litterateur; his wife a graduate of Vassar. There were the Norrie
Simmses, Simms being secretary and treasurer of the Douglas Trust
and Savings Company, and a power in another group of financial
people, a group entirely distinct from that represented by Addison
and Rambaud.

Others included the Stanislau Hoecksemas, wealthy furriers; the
Duane Kingslands, wholesale flour; the Webster Israelses, packers;
the Bradford Candas, jewelers. All these people amounted to
something socially. They all had substantial homes and substantial
incomes, so that they were worthy of consideration. The difference
between Aileen and most of the women involved a difference between
naturalism and illusion. But this calls for some explanation.