The House of Mirth

The Dorsets’ invitation to Lily to cruise on the Sabrina temporarily released her from the financial troubles she has in New York. Lily briefly even considered marrying Rosedale to repay the debt to Gus, but the several months’ cruise has given Lily the illusion that she has solved, not merely postponed, her problems. Lily loves the luxurious beauty of the high-society French Riviera environment, where her attractive charm causes the Duchess of Beltshire to prefer her over Bertha. Lily’s hostess is not included in the duchess’s breakfast invitation to her, but Lily assumes Bertha is sleeping late.

At the casino, Carry Fisher confides in Lily that Mrs. Bry is angry at paying for a fancy dinner the previous evening because of the expectation that the duchess would attend. Lily and her group fled to Nice the previous day to thwart Mrs. Bry’s goal of socially capturing the duchess. Carry’s failure to produce the duchess for Mrs. Bry prompts Carry to change jobs and help the Sam Gormers’ entry into high society. Carry offers Lily the role of socially assisting the Brys, which Lily turns down. Carry warns her that the society columnist, Dabham, is spreading gossip that Lily returned alone with George Dorset after midnight. Lily points out that the previous evening Bertha went off early and it was her failure to turn up at the train station to return with them that caused the problem. Lily takes the precaution of suggesting that Lord Hubert get the duchess to dine with the Brys and she would get them asked to visit the Sabrina.

An agitated George Dorset accosts Lily and pours out the wretched tale of waiting up all night for his wife to return to the yacht. Bertha arrived on board at 7 a.m. As has been her job, Lily tries to allay George’s suspicions and distract him from his wish to divorce his wife for infidelity. George wants to consult Selden, a lawyer, and Lily telegrams Selden, hoping that he will be able to prevent a scandalous divorce. Conscious of her dangerous position, Lily feels that “everything had given way now; and the wonder was that the crazy outfit had held together so long” (212).

When Lily returns to the yacht, sympathetic to the distress that she imagines Bertha must be feeling as the target of her husband’s wrath, Lily is surprised by the sight of Bertha in full command of herself. The Duchess of Beltshire and Lord Hubert are having tea with Bertha, planning tomorrow’s dinner with the Brys. After the visitors depart, Bertha shocks Lily by reversing the guilt and accusing Lily of scandalously returning late with George. Frightened by Bertha’s falsity, Lily recalls her hostess’ past treachery “that was like a gleam of a knife in the dusk” (217), but she concludes that Bertha is merely upset by her own troubles.

In his role as a lawyer, Selden attempts to guide George into preserving his marriage with Bertha. Lily seeks to help Bertha, puzzled by her rebuffs. Even more mysteriously, George also begins to avoid Lily. Selden knows that Bertha can be “as unscrupulous in fighting for herself as she was reckless,” and “whatever came to her hand […] was likely to be used as a defensive missile” (222). Concerned about Lily’s safety and uncertain as to what role she played in the Dorsets’ marital troubles, Selden pleads with Lily to leave the yacht. Lily refuses to depart, feeling loyalty to her hostess. \

At the Brys’ dinner for the duchess, Selden again observes the matchless quality of Lily: “her grace cheapening the other women’s smartness as her finely-discriminated silences made their chatter dull” (225). He watches Lily with detachment since he feels divided from her by Lily’s choice to remain in this superficial and dull society of wealth. As the dinner triumphantly ends, Selden begins to think his apprehension about the Dorsets was unwarranted. When the group is departing the restaurant, Bertha loudly announces that Lily is not returning to the yacht. Shocked by this insult, Lily quickly regains her composure, offering an innocuous explanation to the embarrassed guests and asking Selden to escort her to her cab.

Selden is sympathetic but wonders what Lily has done to find herself in this situation. Since Lily cannot go alone to a hotel, Selden takes her to where her cousins, the Stepneys, are staying. Lily is reluctant because she fears ostracism by her cousin’s wife, Gwen Van Osburgh. Her cousin assents to Lily’s overnight stay if she leaves early tomorrow before his wife awakens.