VII

The acquaintance between the house of Henderson and the house of Delancy
was not permitted to languish. Jack had his reasons for it, which may
have been financial, and Carmen had her reasons, which were probably
purely social. What was the good of money if it did not bring social
position? and what, on the other hand, was the good of social position
if you could not use it to get money?

In his recent association with the newly rich, Jack's twenty thousand
a year began to seem small. In fact, in the lowering of the rate of
interest and the shrinkage of securities, it was no longer twenty
thousand a year. This would have been a matter of little consequence
in the old order. His lot was not cast among the poor; most of his
relations had solid fortunes, and many of them were millionaires, or
what was equivalent to that, before the term was invented. But they made
little display; none at all merely for the purpose of exhibition, or to
gain or keep social place. In this atmosphere in which he was born Jack
floated along without effort, with no demand upon him to keep up with
a rising standard of living. Even impecuniosity, though inconvenient,
would not have made him lose caste.

All this was changing now. Since the introduction of a new element even
the conservative old millions had begun to feel the stir of uneasiness,
and to launch out into extravagance in rivalry with the new millions.
Even with his relations Jack began to feel that he was poor. It did not
spur him to do anything, to follow the example, for instance, of the
young fellows from the country, who were throwing themselves into Wall
Street with the single purpose of becoming suddenly rich, but it made
him uneasy. And when he was with the Hendersons, or Miss Tavish,
whose father, though not newly rich, was one of the most aggressive
of speculators, and saw how easily every luxurious desire glided into
fulfillment, he felt for the first time in his life the emotion of
envy. It seemed then that only unlimited money could make the world
attractive. Why, even to keep up with the unthinking whims of Miss
Tavish would bankrupt him in six months. That little spread at Wherry's
for the theatre party the other night, though he made light of it to
Edith, was almost the price he couldn't afford to pay for Storm. He had
a grim thought that midwinter flowers made dining as expensive as dying.
Carmen, whom nothing escaped, complimented him on his taste, quite a