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Here
he
was
,
at
the
very
moment
of
his
betrothal
--
a
moment
for
pure
thoughts
and
cloudless
hopes
--
pitchforked
into
a
coil
of
scandal
which
raised
all
the
special
problems
he
would
have
preferred
to
let
lie
.
"
Hang
Ellen
Olenska
!
"
he
grumbled
,
as
he
covered
his
fire
and
began
to
undress
.
He
could
not
really
see
why
her
fate
should
have
the
least
bearing
on
his
;
yet
he
dimly
felt
that
he
had
only
just
begun
to
measure
the
risks
of
the
championship
which
his
engagement
had
forced
upon
him.A
few
days
later
the
bolt
fell.The
Lovell
Mingotts
had
sent
out
cards
for
what
was
known
as
"
a
formal
dinner
"
(
that
is
,
three
extra
footmen
,
two
dishes
for
each
course
,
and
a
Roman
punch
in
the
middle
)
,
and
had
headed
their
invitations
with
the
words
"
To
meet
the
Countess
Olenska
,
"
in
accordance
with
the
hospitable
American
fashion
,
which
treats
strangers
as
if
they
were
royalties
,
or
at
least
as
their
ambassadors.The
guests
had
been
selected
with
a
boldness
and
discrimination
in
which
the
initiated
recognised
the
firm
hand
of
Catherine
the
Great
.
Associated
with
such
immemorial
standbys
as
the
Selfridge
Merrys
,
who
were
asked
everywhere
because
they
always
had
been
,
the
Beauforts
,
on
whom
there
was
a
claim
of
relationship
,
and
Mr.
Sillerton
Jackson
and
his
sister
Sophy
(
who
went
wherever
her
brother
told
her
to
)
,
were
some
of
the
most
fashionable
and
yet
most
irreproachable
of
the
dominant
"
young
married
"
set
;
the
Lawrence
Leffertses
,
Mrs.
Lefferts
Rushworth
(
the
lovely
widow
)
,
the
Harry
Thorleys
,
the
Reggie
Chiverses
and
young
Morris
Dagonet
and
his
wife
(
who
was
a
van
der
Luyden
)
.
The
company
indeed
was
perfectly
assorted
,
since
all
the
members
belonged
to
the
little
inner
group
of
people
who
,
during
the
long
New
York
season
,
disported
themselves
together
daily
and
nightly
with
apparently
undiminished
zest.Forty-eight
hours
later
the
unbelievable
had
happened
;
every
one
had
refused
the
Mingotts
'
invitation
except
the
Beauforts
and
old
Mr.
Jackson
and
his
sister
.
The
intended
slight
was
emphasised
by
the
fact
that
even
the
Reggie
Chiverses
,
who
were
of
the
Mingott
clan
,
were
among
those
inflicting
it
;
and
by
the
uniform
wording
of
the
notes
,
in
all
of
which
the
writers
"
regretted
that
they
were
unable
to
accept
,
"
without
the
mitigating
plea
of
a
"
previous
engagement
"
that
ordinary
courtesy
prescribed.New
York
society
was
,
in
those
days
,
far
too
small
,
and
too
scant
in
its
resources
,
for
every
one
in
it
(
including
livery-stable-keepers
,
butlers
and
cooks
)
not
to
know
exactly
on
which
evenings
people
were
free
;
and
it
was
thus
possible
for
the
recipients
of
Mrs.
Lovell
Mingott
's
invitations
to
make
cruelly
clear
their
determination
not
to
meet
the
Countess
Olenska.The
blow
was
unexpected
;
but
the
Mingotts
,
as
their
way
was
,
met
it
gallantly
.
Mrs.
Lovell
Mingott
confided
the
case
to
Mrs.
Welland
,
who
confided
it
to
Newland
Archer
;
who
,
aflame
at
the
outrage
,
appealed
passionately
and
authoritatively
to
his
mother
;
who
,
after
a
painful
period
of
inward
resistance
and
outward
temporising
,
succumbed
to
his
instances
(
as
she
always
did
)
,
and
immediately
embracing
his
cause
with
an
energy
redoubled
by
her
previous
hesitations
,
put
on
her
grey
velvet
bonnet
and
said
:
"
I
'll
go
and
see
Louisa
van
der
Luyden
.
"
The
New
York
of
Newland
Archer
's
day
was
a
small
and
slippery
pyramid
,
in
which
,
as
yet
,
hardly
a
fissure
had
been
made
or
a
foothold
gained
.
At
its
base
was
a
firm
foundation
of
what
Mrs.
Archer
called
"
plain
people
"
;
an
honourable
but
obscure
majority
of
respectable
families
who
(
as
in
the
case
of
the
Spicers
or
the
Leffertses
or
the
Jacksons
)
had
been
raised
above
their
level
by
marriage
with
one
of
the
ruling
clans
.
People
,
Mrs.
Archer
always
said
,
were
not
as
particular
as
they
used
to
be
;
and
with
old
Catherine
Spicer
ruling
one
end
of
Fifth
Avenue
,
and
Julius
Beaufort
the
other
,
you
could
n't
expect
the
old
traditions
to
last
much
longer.Firmly
narrowing
upward
from
this
wealthy
but
inconspicuous
substratum
was
the
compact
and
dominant
group
which
the
Mingotts
,
Newlands
,
Chiverses
and
Mansons
so
actively
represented
.
Most
people
imagined
them
to
be
the
very
apex
of
the
pyramid
;
but
they
themselves
(
at
least
those
of
Mrs.
Archer
's
generation
)
were
aware
that
,
in
the
eyes
of
the
professional
genealogist
,
only
a
still
smaller
number
of
families
could
lay
claim
to
that
eminence
.
"
Do
n't
tell
me
,
"
Mrs.
Archer
would
say
to
her
children
,
"
all
this
modern
newspaper
rubbish
about
a
New
York
aristocracy
.
If
there
is
one
,
neither
the
Mingotts
nor
the
Mansons
belong
to
it
;
no
,
nor
the
Newlands
or
the
Chiverses
either
.
Our
grandfathers
and
great-grandfathers
were
just
respectable
English
or
Dutch
merchants
,
who
came
to
the
colonies
to
make
their
fortune
,
and
stayed
here
because
they
did
so
well
.
One
of
your
great-grandfathers
signed
the
Declaration
,
and
another
was
a
general
on
Washington
's
staff
,
and
received
General
Burgoyne
's
sword
after
the
battle
of
Saratoga
.
These
are
things
to
be
proud
of
,
but
they
have
nothing
to
do
with
rank
or
class
.
New
York
has
always
been
a
commercial
community
,
and
there
are
not
more
than
three
families
in
it
who
can
claim
an
aristocratic
origin
in
the
real
sense
of
the
word
.
"
Mrs.
Archer
and
her
son
and
daughter
,
like
every
one
else
in
New
York
,
knew
who
these
privileged
beings
were
:
the
Dagonets
of
Washington
Square
,
who
came
of
an
old
English
county
family
allied
with
the
Pitts
and
Foxes
;
the
Lannings
,
who
had
intermarried
with
the
descendants
of
Count
de
Grasse
,
and
the
van
der
Luydens
,
direct
descendants
of
the
first
Dutch
governor
of
Manhattan
,
and
related
by
pre-revolutionary
marriages
to
several
members
of
the
French
and
British
aristocracy
.
The
Lannings
survived
only
in
the
person
of
two
very
old
but
lively
Miss
Lannings
,
who
lived
cheerfully
and
reminiscently
among
family
portraits
and
Chippendale
;
the
Dagonets
were
a
considerable
clan
,
allied
to
the
best
names
in
Baltimore
and
Philadelphia
;
but
the
van
der
Luydens
,
who
stood
above
all
of
them
,
had
faded
into
a
kind
of
super-terrestrial
twilight
,
from
which
only
two
figures
impressively
emerged
;
those
of
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Henry
van
der
Luyden.Mrs
.
Henry
van
der
Luyden
had
been
Louisa
Dagonet
,
and
her
mother
had
been
the
granddaughter
of
Colonel
du
Lac
,
of
an
old
Channel
Island
family
,
who
had
fought
under
Cornwallis
and
had
settled
in
Maryland
,
after
the
war
,
with
his
bride
,
Lady
Angelica
Trevenna
,
fifth
daughter
of
the
Earl
of
St.
Austrey
.
The
tie
between
the
Dagonets
,
the
du
Lacs
of
Maryland
,
and
their
aristocratic
Cornish
kinsfolk
,
the
Trevennas
,
had
always
remained
close
and
cordial
.
Mr.
and
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
had
more
than
once
paid
long
visits
to
the
present
head
of
the
house
of
Trevenna
,
the
Duke
of
St.
Austrey
,
at
his
country-seat
in
Cornwall
and
at
St.
Austrey
in
Gloucestershire
;
and
his
Grace
had
frequently
announced
his
intention
of
some
day
returning
their
visit
(
without
the
Duchess
,
who
feared
the
Atlantic
)
.
Mr.
and
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
divided
their
time
between
Trevenna
,
their
place
in
Maryland
,
and
Skuytercliff
,
the
great
estate
on
the
Hudson
which
had
been
one
of
the
colonial
grants
of
the
Dutch
government
to
the
famous
first
Governor
,
and
of
which
Mr.
van
der
Luyden
was
still
"
Patroon
"
Their
large
solemn
house
in
Madison
Avenue
was
seldom
opened
,
and
when
they
came
to
town
they
received
in
it
only
their
most
intimate
friends
.
"
I
wish
you
would
go
with
me
,
Newland
,
"
his
mother
said
,
suddenly
pausing
at
the
door
of
the
Brown
coupe
.
"
Louisa
is
fond
of
you
;
and
of
course
it
's
on
account
of
dear
May
that
I
'm
taking
this
step
--
and
also
because
,
if
we
do
n't
all
stand
together
,
there
'll
be
no
such
thing
as
Society
left
.
"
Mrs.
Henry
van
der
Luyden
listened
in
silence
to
her
cousin
Mrs.
Archer
's
narrative.It
was
all
very
well
to
tell
yourself
in
advance
that
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
was
always
silent
,
and
that
,
though
non-committal
by
nature
and
training
,
she
was
very
kind
to
the
people
she
really
liked
.
Even
personal
experience
of
these
facts
was
not
always
a
protection
from
the
chill
that
descended
on
one
in
the
high-ceilinged
white-walled
Madison
Avenue
drawing-room
,
with
the
pale
brocaded
armchairs
so
obviously
uncovered
for
the
occasion
,
and
the
gauze
still
veiling
the
ormolu
mantel
ornaments
and
the
beautiful
old
carved
frame
of
Gainsborough
's
"
Lady
Angelica
du
Lac
.
"
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
's
portrait
by
Huntington
(
in
black
velvet
and
Venetian
point
)
faced
that
of
her
lovely
ancestress
.
It
was
generally
considered
"
as
fine
as
a
Cabanel
,
"
and
,
though
twenty
years
had
elapsed
since
its
execution
,
was
still
"
a
perfect
likeness
.
"
Indeed
the
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
who
sat
beneath
it
listening
to
Mrs.
Archer
might
have
been
the
twin-sister
of
the
fair
and
still
youngish
woman
drooping
against
a
gilt
armchair
before
a
green
rep
curtain
.
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
still
wore
black
velvet
and
Venetian
point
when
she
went
into
society
--
or
rather
(
since
she
never
dined
out
)
when
she
threw
open
her
own
doors
to
receive
it
.
Her
fair
hair
,
which
had
faded
without
turning
grey
,
was
still
parted
in
flat
overlapping
points
on
her
forehead
,
and
the
straight
nose
that
divided
her
pale
blue
eyes
was
only
a
little
more
pinched
about
the
nostrils
than
when
the
portrait
had
been
painted
.
She
always
,
indeed
,
struck
Newland
Archer
as
having
been
rather
gruesomely
preserved
in
the
airless
atmosphere
of
a
perfectly
irreproachable
existence
,
as
bodies
caught
in
glaciers
keep
for
years
a
rosy
life-in-death
.
Like
all
his
family
,
he
esteemed
and
admired
Mrs.
van
der
Luyden
;
but
he
found
her
gentle
bending
sweetness
less
approachable
than
the
grimness
of
some
of
his
mother
's
old
aunts
,
fierce
spinsters
who
said
"
No
"
on
principle
before
they
knew
what
they
were
going
to
be
asked.Mrs
.
van
der
Luyden
's
attitude
said
neither
yes
nor
no
,
but
always
appeared
to
incline
to
clemency
till
her
thin
lips
,
wavering
into
the
shadow
of
a
smile
,
made
the
almost
invariable
reply
:
"
I
shall
first
have
to
talk
this
over
with
my
husband
.
"
She
and
Mr.
van
der
Luyden
were
so
exactly
alike
that
Archer
often
wondered
how
,
after
forty
years
of
the
closest
conjugality
,
two
such
merged
identities
ever
separated
themselves
enough
for
anything
as
controversial
as
a
talking-over
.
But
as
neither
had
ever
reached
a
decision
without
prefacing
it
by
this
mysterious
conclave
,
Mrs.
Archer
and
her
son
,
having
set
forth
their
case
,
waited
resignedly
for
the
familiar
phrase.Mrs
.
van
der
Luyden
,
however
,
who
had
seldom
surprised
any
one
,
now
surprised
them
by
reaching
her
long
hand
toward
the
bell-rope
.
"
I
think
,
"
she
said
,
"
I
should
like
Henry
to
hear
what
you
have
told
me
.
"
A
footman
appeared
,
to
whom
she
gravely
added
:
"
If
Mr.
van
der
Luyden
has
finished
reading
the
newspaper
,
please
ask
him
to
be
kind
enough
to
come
.
"
She
said
"
reading
the
newspaper
"
in
the
tone
in
which
a
Minister
's
wife
might
have
said
:
"
Presiding
at
a
Cabinet
meeting
"
--
not
from
any
arrogance
of
mind
,
but
because
the
habit
of
a
life-time
,
and
the
attitude
of
her
friends
and
relations
,
had
led
her
to
consider
Mr.
van
der
Luyden
's
least
gesture
as
having
an
almost
sacerdotal
importance.Her
promptness
of
action
showed
that
she
considered
the
case
as
pressing
as
Mrs.
Archer
;
but
,
lest
she
should
be
thought
to
have
committed
herself
in
advance
,
she
added
,
with
the
sweetest
look
:
"
Henry
always
enjoys
seeing
you
,
dear
Adeline
;
and
he
will
wish
to
congratulate
Newland
.
"
The
double
doors
had
solemnly
reopened
and
between
them
appeared
Mr.
Henry
van
der
Luyden
,
tall
,
spare
and
frock-coated
,
with
faded
fair
hair
,
a
straight
nose
like
his
wife
's
and
the
same
look
of
frozen
gentleness
in
eyes
that
were
merely
pale
grey
instead
of
pale
blue.Mr
.
van
der
Luyden
greeted
Mrs.
Archer
with
cousinly
affability
,
proffered
to
Newland
low-voiced
congratulations
couched
in
the
same
language
as
his
wife
's
,
and
seated
himself
in
one
of
the
brocade
armchairs
with
the
simplicity
of
a
reigning
sovereign
.
"
I
had
just
finished
reading
the
Times
,
"
he
said
,
laying
his
long
finger-tips
together
.
"
In
town
my
mornings
are
so
much
occupied
that
I
find
it
more
convenient
to
read
the
newspapers
after
luncheon
.
"
"
Ah
,
there
's
a
great
deal
to
be
said
for
that
plan
--
indeed
I
think
my
uncle
Egmont
used
to
say
he
found
it
less
agitating
not
to
read
the
morning
papers
till
after
dinner
,
"
said
Mrs.
Archer
responsively
.
"
Yes
:
my
good
father
abhorred
hurry
.
But
now
we
live
in
a
constant
rush
,
"
said
Mr.
van
der
Luyden
in
measured
tones
,
looking
with
pleasant
deliberation
about
the
large
shrouded
room
which
to
Archer
was
so
complete
an
image
of
its
owners
.
"
But
I
hope
you
HAD
finished
your
reading
,
Henry
?
"
his
wife
interposed
.
"
Quite
--
quite
,
"
he
reassured
her
.
"
Then
I
should
like
Adeline
to
tell
you
--
"
"
Oh
,
it
's
really
Newland
's
story
,
"
said
his
mother
smiling
;
and
proceeded
to
rehearse
once
more
the
monstrous
tale
of
the
affront
inflicted
on
Mrs.
Lovell
Mingott
.
"
Of
course
,
"
she
ended
,
"
Augusta
Welland
and
Mary
Mingott
both
felt
that
,
especially
in
view
of
Newland
's
engagement
,
you
and
Henry
OUGHT
TO
KNOW
.
"
"
Ah
--
"
said
Mr.
van
der
Luyden
,
drawing
a
deep
breath.There
was
a
silence
during
which
the
tick
of
the
monumental
ormolu
clock
on
the
white
marble
mantelpiece
grew
as
loud
as
the
boom
of
a
minute-gun
.
Archer
contemplated
with
awe
the
two
slender
faded
figures
,
seated
side
by
side
in
a
kind
of
viceregal
rigidity
,
mouthpieces
of
some
remote
ancestral
authority
which
fate
compelled
them
to
wield
,
when
they
would
so
much
rather
have
lived
in
simplicity
and
seclusion
,
digging
invisible
weeds
out
of
the
perfect
lawns
of
Skuytercliff
,
and
playing
Patience
together
in
the
evenings.Mr
.
van
der
Luyden
was
the
first
to
speak
.
"
You
really
think
this
is
due
to
some
--
some
intentional
interference
of
Lawrence
Lefferts
's
?
"
he
enquired
,
turning
to
Archer
.
"
I
'm
certain
of
it
,
sir
.
