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Newland
Archer
,
during
this
brief
episode
,
had
been
thrown
into
a
strange
state
of
embarrassment.It
was
annoying
that
the
box
which
was
thus
attracting
the
undivided
attention
of
masculine
New
York
should
be
that
in
which
his
betrothed
was
seated
between
her
mother
and
aunt
;
and
for
a
moment
he
could
not
identify
the
lady
in
the
Empire
dress
,
nor
imagine
why
her
presence
created
such
excitement
among
the
initiated
.
Then
light
dawned
on
him
,
and
with
it
came
a
momentary
rush
of
indignation
.
No
,
indeed
;
no
one
would
have
thought
the
Mingotts
would
have
tried
it
on!But
they
had
;
they
undoubtedly
had
;
for
the
low-toned
comments
behind
him
left
no
doubt
in
Archer
's
mind
that
the
young
woman
was
May
Welland
's
cousin
,
the
cousin
always
referred
to
in
the
family
as
"
poor
Ellen
Olenska
.
"
Archer
knew
that
she
had
suddenly
arrived
from
Europe
a
day
or
two
previously
;
he
had
even
heard
from
Miss
Welland
(
not
disapprovingly
)
that
she
had
been
to
see
poor
Ellen
,
who
was
staying
with
old
Mrs.
Mingott
.
Archer
entirely
approved
of
family
solidarity
,
and
one
of
the
qualities
he
most
admired
in
the
Mingotts
was
their
resolute
championship
of
the
few
black
sheep
that
their
blameless
stock
had
produced
.
There
was
nothing
mean
or
ungenerous
in
the
young
man
's
heart
,
and
he
was
glad
that
his
future
wife
should
not
be
restrained
by
false
prudery
from
being
kind
(
in
private
)
to
her
unhappy
cousin
;
but
to
receive
Countess
Olenska
in
the
family
circle
was
a
different
thing
from
producing
her
in
public
,
at
the
Opera
of
all
places
,
and
in
the
very
box
with
the
young
girl
whose
engagement
to
him
,
Newland
Archer
,
was
to
be
announced
within
a
few
weeks
.
No
,
he
felt
as
old
Sillerton
Jackson
felt
;
he
did
not
think
the
Mingotts
would
have
tried
it
on!He
knew
,
of
course
,
that
whatever
man
dared
(
within
Fifth
Avenue
's
limits
)
that
old
Mrs.
Manson
Mingott
,
the
Matriarch
of
the
line
,
would
dare
.
He
had
always
admired
the
high
and
mighty
old
lady
,
who
,
in
spite
of
having
been
only
Catherine
Spicer
of
Staten
Island
,
with
a
father
mysteriously
discredited
,
and
neither
money
nor
position
enough
to
make
people
forget
it
,
had
allied
herself
with
the
head
of
the
wealthy
Mingott
line
,
married
two
of
her
daughters
to
"
foreigners
"
(
an
Italian
marquis
and
an
English
banker
)
,
and
put
the
crowning
touch
to
her
audacities
by
building
a
large
house
of
pale
cream-coloured
stone
(
when
brown
sandstone
seemed
as
much
the
only
wear
as
a
frock-coat
in
the
afternoon
)
in
an
inaccessible
wilderness
near
the
Central
Park.Old
Mrs.
Mingott
's
foreign
daughters
had
become
a
legend
.
They
never
came
back
to
see
their
mother
,
and
the
latter
being
,
like
many
persons
of
active
mind
and
dominating
will
,
sedentary
and
corpulent
in
her
habit
,
had
philosophically
remained
at
home
.
But
the
cream-coloured
house
(
supposed
to
be
modelled
on
the
private
hotels
of
the
Parisian
aristocracy
)
was
there
as
a
visible
proof
of
her
moral
courage
;
and
she
throned
in
it
,
among
pre-Revolutionary
furniture
and
souvenirs
of
the
Tuileries
of
Louis
Napoleon
(
where
she
had
shone
in
her
middle
age
)
,
as
placidly
as
if
there
were
nothing
peculiar
in
living
above
Thirty-fourth
Street
,
or
in
having
French
windows
that
opened
like
doors
instead
of
sashes
that
pushed
up.Every
one
(
including
Mr.
Sillerton
Jackson
)
was
agreed
that
old
Catherine
had
never
had
beauty
--
a
gift
which
,
in
the
eyes
of
New
York
,
justified
every
success
,
and
excused
a
certain
number
of
failings
.
Unkind
people
said
that
,
like
her
Imperial
namesake
,
she
had
won
her
way
to
success
by
strength
of
will
and
hardness
of
heart
,
and
a
kind
of
haughty
effrontery
that
was
somehow
justified
by
the
extreme
decency
and
dignity
of
her
private
life
.
Mr.
Manson
Mingott
had
died
when
she
was
only
twenty-eight
,
and
had
"
tied
up
"
the
money
with
an
additional
caution
born
of
the
general
distrust
of
the
Spicers
;
but
his
bold
young
widow
went
her
way
fearlessly
,
mingled
freely
in
foreign
society
,
married
her
daughters
in
heaven
knew
what
corrupt
and
fashionable
circles
,
hobnobbed
with
Dukes
and
Ambassadors
,
associated
familiarly
with
Papists
,
entertained
Opera
singers
,
and
was
the
intimate
friend
of
Mme.
Taglioni
;
and
all
the
while
(
as
Sillerton
Jackson
was
the
first
to
proclaim
)
there
had
never
been
a
breath
on
her
reputation
;
the
only
respect
,
he
always
added
,
in
which
she
differed
from
the
earlier
Catherine.Mrs
.
Manson
Mingott
had
long
since
succeeded
in
untying
her
husband
's
fortune
,
and
had
lived
in
affluence
for
half
a
century
;
but
memories
of
her
early
straits
had
made
her
excessively
thrifty
,
and
though
,
when
she
bought
a
dress
or
a
piece
of
furniture
,
she
took
care
that
it
should
be
of
the
best
,
she
could
not
bring
herself
to
spend
much
on
the
transient
pleasures
of
the
table
.
Therefore
,
for
totally
different
reasons
,
her
food
was
as
poor
as
Mrs.
Archer
's
,
and
her
wines
did
nothing
to
redeem
it
.
Her
relatives
considered
that
the
penury
of
her
table
discredited
the
Mingott
name
,
which
had
always
been
associated
with
good
living
;
but
people
continued
to
come
to
her
in
spite
of
the
"
made
dishes
"
and
flat
champagne
,
and
in
reply
to
the
remonstrances
of
her
son
Lovell
(
who
tried
to
retrieve
the
family
credit
by
having
the
best
chef
in
New
York
)
she
used
to
say
laughingly
:
"
What
's
the
use
of
two
good
cooks
in
one
family
,
now
that
I
've
married
the
girls
and
ca
n't
eat
sauces
?
"
Newland
Archer
,
as
he
mused
on
these
things
,
had
once
more
turned
his
eyes
toward
the
Mingott
box
.
He
saw
that
Mrs.
Welland
and
her
sister-in-law
were
facing
their
semicircle
of
critics
with
the
Mingottian
APLOMB
which
old
Catherine
had
inculcated
in
all
her
tribe
,
and
that
only
May
Welland
betrayed
,
by
a
heightened
colour
(
perhaps
due
to
the
knowledge
that
he
was
watching
her
)
a
sense
of
the
gravity
of
the
situation
.
As
for
the
cause
of
the
commotion
,
she
sat
gracefully
in
her
corner
of
the
box
,
her
eyes
fixed
on
the
stage
,
and
revealing
,
as
she
leaned
forward
,
a
little
more
shoulder
and
bosom
than
New
York
was
accustomed
to
seeing
,
at
least
in
ladies
who
had
reasons
for
wishing
to
pass
unnoticed.Few
things
seemed
to
Newland
Archer
more
awful
than
an
offence
against
"
Taste
,
"
that
far-off
divinity
of
whom
"
Form
"
was
the
mere
visible
representative
and
vicegerent
.
Madame
Olenska
's
pale
and
serious
face
appealed
to
his
fancy
as
suited
to
the
occasion
and
to
her
unhappy
situation
;
but
the
way
her
dress
(
which
had
no
tucker
)
sloped
away
from
her
thin
shoulders
shocked
and
troubled
him
.
He
hated
to
think
of
May
Welland
's
being
exposed
to
the
influence
of
a
young
woman
so
careless
of
the
dictates
of
Taste
.
"
After
all
,
"
he
heard
one
of
the
younger
men
begin
behind
him
(
everybody
talked
through
the
Mephistopheles-and-Martha
scenes
)
,
"
after
all
,
just
WHAT
happened
?
"
"
Well
--
she
left
him
;
nobody
attempts
to
deny
that
.
"
"
He
's
an
awful
brute
,
is
n't
he
?
"
continued
the
young
enquirer
,
a
candid
Thorley
,
who
was
evidently
preparing
to
enter
the
lists
as
the
lady
's
champion
.
"
The
very
worst
;
I
knew
him
at
Nice
,
"
said
Lawrence
Lefferts
with
authority
.
"
A
half-paralysed
white
sneering
fellow
--
rather
handsome
head
,
but
eyes
with
a
lot
of
lashes
.
Well
,
I
'll
tell
you
the
sort
:
when
he
was
n't
with
women
he
was
collecting
china
.
Paying
any
price
for
both
,
I
understand
.
"
There
was
a
general
laugh
,
and
the
young
champion
said
:
"
Well
,
then
--
--
?
"
"
Well
,
then
;
she
bolted
with
his
secretary
.
"
"
Oh
,
I
see
.
"
The
champion
's
face
fell
.
"
It
did
n't
last
long
,
though
:
I
heard
of
her
a
few
months
later
living
alone
in
Venice
.
I
believe
Lovell
Mingott
went
out
to
get
her
.
He
said
she
was
desperately
unhappy
.
That
's
all
right
--
but
this
parading
her
at
the
Opera
's
another
thing
.
"
"
Perhaps
,
"
young
Thorley
hazarded
,
"
she
's
too
unhappy
to
be
left
at
home
.
"
This
was
greeted
with
an
irreverent
laugh
,
and
the
youth
blushed
deeply
,
and
tried
to
look
as
if
he
had
meant
to
insinuate
what
knowing
people
called
a
"
double
entendre
.
"
"
Well
--
it
's
queer
to
have
brought
Miss
Welland
,
anyhow
,
"
some
one
said
in
a
low
tone
,
with
a
side-glance
at
Archer
.
"
Oh
,
that
's
part
of
the
campaign
:
Granny
's
orders
,
no
doubt
,
"
Lefferts
laughed
.
"
When
the
old
lady
does
a
thing
she
does
it
thoroughly
.
"
The
act
was
ending
,
and
there
was
a
general
stir
in
the
box
.
Suddenly
Newland
Archer
felt
himself
impelled
to
decisive
action
.
The
desire
to
be
the
first
man
to
enter
Mrs.
Mingott
's
box
,
to
proclaim
to
the
waiting
world
his
engagement
to
May
Welland
,
and
to
see
her
through
whatever
difficulties
her
cousin
's
anomalous
situation
might
involve
her
in
;
this
impulse
had
abruptly
overruled
all
scruples
and
hesitations
,
and
sent
him
hurrying
through
the
red
corridors
to
the
farther
side
of
the
house.As
he
entered
the
box
his
eyes
met
Miss
Welland
's
,
and
he
saw
that
she
had
instantly
understood
his
motive
,
though
the
family
dignity
which
both
considered
so
high
a
virtue
would
not
permit
her
to
tell
him
so
.
The
persons
of
their
world
lived
in
an
atmosphere
of
faint
implications
and
pale
delicacies
,
and
the
fact
that
he
and
she
understood
each
other
without
a
word
seemed
to
the
young
man
to
bring
them
nearer
than
any
explanation
would
have
done
.
Her
eyes
said
:
"
You
see
why
Mamma
brought
me
,
"
and
his
answered
:
"
I
would
not
for
the
world
have
had
you
stay
away
.
"
"
You
know
my
niece
Countess
Olenska
?
"
Mrs.
Welland
enquired
as
she
shook
hands
with
her
future
son-in-law
.
Archer
bowed
without
extending
his
hand
,
as
was
the
custom
on
being
introduced
to
a
lady
;
and
Ellen
Olenska
bent
her
head
slightly
,
keeping
her
own
pale-gloved
hands
clasped
on
her
huge
fan
of
eagle
feathers
.
Having
greeted
Mrs.
Lovell
Mingott
,
a
large
blonde
lady
in
creaking
satin
,
he
sat
down
beside
his
betrothed
,
and
said
in
a
low
tone
:
"
I
hope
you
've
told
Madame
Olenska
that
we
're
engaged
?
I
want
everybody
to
know
--
I
want
you
to
let
me
announce
it
this
evening
at
the
ball
.
"
Miss
Welland
's
face
grew
rosy
as
the
dawn
,
and
she
looked
at
him
with
radiant
eyes
.
"
If
you
can
persuade
Mamma
,
"
she
said
;
"
but
why
should
we
change
what
is
already
settled
?
"
He
made
no
answer
but
that
which
his
eyes
returned
,
and
she
added
,
still
more
confidently
smiling
:
"
Tell
my
cousin
yourself
:
I
give
you
leave
.
She
says
she
used
to
play
with
you
when
you
were
children
.
"
She
made
way
for
him
by
pushing
back
her
chair
,
and
promptly
,
and
a
little
ostentatiously
,
with
the
desire
that
the
whole
house
should
see
what
he
was
doing
,
Archer
seated
himself
at
the
Countess
Olenska
's
side
.
"
We
DID
use
to
play
together
,
did
n't
we
?
"
she
asked
,
turning
her
grave
eyes
to
his
"
You
were
a
horrid
boy
,
and
kissed
me
once
behind
a
door
;
but
it
was
your
cousin
Vandie
Newland
,
who
never
looked
at
me
,
that
I
was
in
love
with
.
"
Her
glance
swept
the
horse-shoe
curve
of
boxes
.
"
Ah
,
how
this
brings
it
all
back
to
me
--
I
see
everybody
here
in
knickerbockers
and
pantalettes
,
"
she
said
,
with
her
trailing
slightly
foreign
accent
,
her
eyes
returning
to
his
face.Agreeable
as
their
expression
was
,
the
young
man
was
shocked
that
they
should
reflect
so
unseemly
a
picture
of
the
august
tribunal
before
which
,
at
that
very
moment
,
her
case
was
being
tried
.
Nothing
could
be
in
worse
taste
than
misplaced
flippancy
;
and
he
answered
somewhat
stiffly
:
"
Yes
,
you
have
been
away
a
very
long
time
.
"
"
Oh
,
centuries
and
centuries
;
so
long
,
"
she
said
,
"
that
I
'm
sure
I
'm
dead
and
buried
,
and
this
dear
old
place
is
heaven
;
"
which
,
for
reasons
he
could
not
define
,
struck
Newland
Archer
as
an
even
more
disrespectful
way
of
describing
New
York
society
.
It
invariably
happened
in
the
same
way.Mrs
.
Julius
Beaufort
,
on
the
night
of
her
annual
ball
,
never
failed
to
appear
at
the
Opera
;
indeed
,
she
always
gave
her
ball
on
an
Opera
night
in
order
to
emphasise
her
complete
superiority
to
household
cares
,
and
her
possession
of
a
staff
of
servants
competent
to
organise
every
detail
of
the
entertainment
in
her
absence.The
Beauforts
'
house
was
one
of
the
few
in
New
York
that
possessed
a
ball-room
(
it
antedated
even
Mrs.
Manson
Mingott
's
and
the
Headly
Chiverses
'
)
;
and
at
a
time
when
it
was
beginning
to
be
thought
"
provincial
"
to
put
a
"
crash
"
over
the
drawing-room
floor
and
move
the
furniture
upstairs
,
the
possession
of
a
ball-room
that
was
used
for
no
other
purpose
,
and
left
for
three-hundred-and-sixty-four
days
of
the
year
to
shuttered
darkness
,
with
its
gilt
chairs
stacked
in
a
corner
and
its
chandelier
in
a
bag
;
this
undoubted
superiority
was
felt
to
compensate
for
whatever
was
regrettable
in
the
Beaufort
past.Mrs
.
Archer
,
who
was
fond
of
coining
her
social
philosophy
into
axioms
,
had
once
said
:
"
We
all
have
our
pet
common
people
--
"
and
though
the
phrase
was
a
daring
one
,
its
truth
was
secretly
admitted
in
many
an
exclusive
bosom
.
But
the
Beauforts
were
not
exactly
common
;
some
people
said
they
were
even
worse
.
Mrs.
Beaufort
belonged
indeed
to
one
of
America
's
most
honoured
families
;
she
had
been
the
lovely
Regina
Dallas
(
of
the
South
Carolina
branch
)
,
a
penniless
beauty
introduced
to
New
York
society
by
her
cousin
,
the
imprudent
Medora
Manson
,
who
was
always
doing
the
wrong
thing
from
the
right
motive
.
When
one
was
related
to
the
Mansons
and
the
Rushworths
one
had
a
"
droit
de
cite
"
(
as
Mr.
Sillerton
Jackson
,
who
had
frequented
the
Tuileries
,
called
it
)
in
New
York
society
;
but
did
one
not
forfeit
it
in
marrying
Julius
Beaufort?The
question
was
:
who
was
Beaufort
?
He
passed
for
an
Englishman
,
was
agreeable
,
handsome
,
ill-tempered
,
hospitable
and
witty
.
He
had
come
to
America
with
letters
of
recommendation
from
old
Mrs.
Manson
Mingott
's
English
son-in-law
,
the
banker
,
and
had
speedily
made
himself
an
important
position
in
the
world
of
affairs
;
but
his
habits
were
dissipated
,
his
tongue
was
bitter
,
his
antecedents
were
mysterious
;
and
when
Medora
Manson
announced
her
cousin
's
engagement
to
him
it
was
felt
to
be
one
more
act
of
folly
in
poor
Medora
's
long
record
of
imprudences.But
folly
is
as
often
justified
of
her
children
as
wisdom
,
and
two
years
after
young
Mrs.
Beaufort
's
marriage
it
was
admitted
that
she
had
the
most
distinguished
house
in
New
York
.
No
one
knew
exactly
how
the
miracle
was
accomplished
.
She
was
indolent
,
passive
,
the
caustic
even
called
her
dull
;
but
dressed
like
an
idol
,
hung
with
pearls
,
growing
younger
and
blonder
and
more
beautiful
each
year
,
she
throned
in
Mr.
Beaufort
's
heavy
brown-stone
palace
,
and
drew
all
the
world
there
without
lifting
her
jewelled
little
finger
.
The
knowing
people
said
it
was
Beaufort
himself
who
trained
the
servants
,
taught
the
chef
new
dishes
,
told
the
gardeners
what
hot-house
flowers
to
grow
for
the
dinner-table
and
the
drawing-rooms
,
selected
the
guests
,
brewed
the
after-dinner
punch
and
dictated
the
little
notes
his
wife
wrote
to
her
friends
.
