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"
It
's
possible
that
they
might
attempt
something
like
that
in
the
East
and
succeed
--
I
'm
sure
I
do
n't
know
,
"
replied
Mrs.
Merrill
,
caustically
,
resenting
the
slur
,
"
but
attempting
and
achieving
are
quite
different
things
in
Chicago
.
"
The
answer
was
sufficient
.
It
ended
the
discussion
.
When
next
Mrs.
Simms
was
rash
enough
to
mention
the
Cowperwoods
,
or
,
rather
,
the
peculiar
publicity
in
connection
with
him
,
her
future
viewpoint
was
definitely
fixed
for
her
.
"
If
you
take
my
advice
,
"
commented
Mrs.
Merrill
,
finally
,
"
the
less
you
have
to
do
with
these
friends
of
yours
the
better
.
I
know
all
about
them
.
You
might
have
seen
that
from
the
first
.
They
can
never
be
accepted
.
"
Mrs.
Merrill
did
not
trouble
to
explain
why
,
but
Mrs.
Simms
through
her
husband
soon
learned
the
whole
truth
,
and
she
was
righteously
indignant
and
even
terrified
.
Who
was
to
blame
for
this
sort
of
thing
,
anyhow
?
she
thought
.
Who
had
introduced
them
?
The
Addisons
,
of
course
.
But
the
Addisons
were
socially
unassailable
,
if
not
all-powerful
,
and
so
the
best
had
to
be
made
of
that
.
But
the
Cowperwoods
could
be
dropped
from
the
lists
of
herself
and
her
friends
instantly
,
and
that
was
now
done
.
A
sudden
slump
in
their
social
significance
began
to
manifest
itself
,
though
not
so
swiftly
but
what
for
the
time
being
it
was
slightly
deceptive
.
The
first
evidence
of
change
which
Aileen
observed
was
when
the
customary
cards
and
invitations
for
receptions
and
the
like
,
which
had
come
to
them
quite
freely
of
late
,
began
to
decline
sharply
in
number
,
and
when
the
guests
to
her
own
Wednesday
afternoons
,
which
rather
prematurely
she
had
ventured
to
establish
,
became
a
mere
negligible
handful
.
At
first
she
could
not
understand
this
,
not
being
willing
to
believe
that
,
following
so
soon
upon
her
apparent
triumph
as
a
hostess
in
her
own
home
,
there
could
be
so
marked
a
decline
in
her
local
importance
.
Of
a
possible
seventy-five
or
fifty
who
might
have
called
or
left
cards
,
within
three
weeks
after
the
housewarming
only
twenty
responded
.
A
week
later
it
had
declined
to
ten
,
and
within
five
weeks
,
all
told
,
there
was
scarcely
a
caller
.
It
is
true
that
a
very
few
of
the
unimportant
--
those
who
had
looked
to
her
for
influence
and
the
self-protecting
Taylor
Lord
and
Kent
McKibben
,
who
were
commercially
obligated
to
Cowperwood
--
were
still
faithful
,
but
they
were
really
worse
than
nothing
.
Aileen
was
beside
herself
with
disappointment
,
opposition
,
chagrin
,
shame
.
There
are
many
natures
,
rhinoceros-bided
and
iron-souled
,
who
can
endure
almost
any
rebuff
in
the
hope
of
eventual
victory
,
who
are
almost
too
thick-skinned
to
suffer
,
but
hers
was
not
one
of
these
.
Already
,
in
spite
of
her
original
daring
in
regard
to
the
opinion
of
society
and
the
rights
of
the
former
Mrs.
Cowperwood
,
she
was
sensitive
on
the
score
of
her
future
and
what
her
past
might
mean
to
her
.
Really
her
original
actions
could
be
attributed
to
her
youthful
passion
and
the
powerful
sex
magnetism
of
Cowperwood
.
Under
more
fortunate
circumstances
she
would
have
married
safely
enough
and
without
the
scandal
which
followed
.
As
it
was
now
,
her
social
future
here
needed
to
end
satisfactorily
in
order
to
justify
herself
to
herself
,
and
,
she
thought
,
to
him
.
"
You
may
put
the
sandwiches
in
the
ice-box
,
"
she
said
to
Louis
,
the
butler
,
after
one
of
the
earliest
of
the
"
at
home
"
failures
,
referring
to
the
undue
supply
of
pink-and-blue-ribboned
titbits
which
,
uneaten
,
honored
some
fine
Sevres
with
their
presence
.
"
Send
the
flowers
to
the
hospital
.
The
servants
may
drink
the
claret
cup
and
lemonade
.
Keep
some
of
the
cakes
fresh
for
dinner
.
"
The
butler
nodded
his
head
.
"
Yes
,
Madame
,
"
he
said
.
Then
,
by
way
of
pouring
oil
on
what
appeared
to
him
to
be
a
troubled
situation
,
he
added
:
"
Eet
's
a
rough
day
.
I
suppose
zat
has
somepsing
to
do
weeth
it
.
"
Aileen
was
aflame
in
a
moment
.
She
was
about
to
exclaim
:
"
Mind
your
business
!
"
but
changed
her
mind
.
"
Yes
,
I
presume
so
,
"
was
her
answer
,
as
she
ascended
to
her
room
.
If
a
single
poor
"
at
home
"
was
to
be
commented
on
by
servants
,
things
were
coming
to
a
pretty
pass
.
She
waited
until
the
next
week
to
see
whether
this
was
the
weather
or
a
real
change
in
public
sentiment
.
It
was
worse
than
the
one
before
.
The
singers
she
had
engaged
had
to
be
dismissed
without
performing
the
service
for
which
they
had
come
.
Kent
McKibben
and
Taylor
Lord
,
very
well
aware
of
the
rumors
now
flying
about
,
called
,
but
in
a
remote
and
troubled
spirit
.
Aileen
saw
that
,
too
.
An
affair
of
this
kind
,
with
only
these
two
and
Mrs.
Webster
Israels
and
Mrs.
Henry
Huddlestone
calling
,
was
a
sad
indication
of
something
wrong
.
She
had
to
plead
illness
and
excuse
herself
.
The
third
week
,
fearing
a
worse
defeat
than
before
,
Aileen
pretended
to
be
ill
.
