The House of Mirth

Sundays at Bellomont are marked by the arrival of an omnibus to transport members of the household to church. The omnibus typically drives away empty because the Trenors’ materialistic values lead them to avoid church attendance. To impress Percy, Lily tells him that the Trenors’ neglect of religion violates her early training; Lily asserts that she regularly escorts the Trenor daughters to church during her Bellomont visits. Lily also falsely informs Percy that she lost money at bridge because she had never played the game before. On this Sunday, Percy waits by the omnibus for Lily to attend church with him. The Trenor daughters promised Lily they would go, but they were surprised at her unprecedented request. The Wetheralls attend to conform, while Lady Cressida looks forward to the service. Percy is disappointed when Lily fails to appear before the group sets off in the omnibus.

At the previous night’s dinner, Lily began unfavorably comparing Percy with Selden. Lily wishes that Selden did not lack the wealth she needs, but she admires his social independence, his happy way “of viewing the show objectively, of having points of contact outside the great gilt cage in which they were all huddled for the mob to gape at” (56). Imagining Selden’s perspective, Lily recognizes the triviality of her dinner companions. Seated next to George Dorset at dinner, Lily kindly humors him when he complains about the food instead of perceiving his wife’s infidelities. The offhand mention of Rosedale and the receipt of new bills after dinner remind Lily that she must marry Percy.

The beauty of Sunday morning revives Lily’s impulse to escape from the duty of a boring future with Percy. Lily planned to attend church as part of her conquest of Percy, expecting that he would then propose to her during the afternoon walk. Her businesslike intentions waver because “she was like a water-plant in the flux of the tides, and today the whole current of her mood was carrying her toward Lawrence Selden” (55). Lily wonders if Selden came to Bellomont to see her or Bertha.

Even after the omnibus leaves, Lily assumes her absence will increase Percy’s appetite for a later walk with her. Lily finds Selden and Bertha talking in the library. Bertha is displeased to see a rival, although Selden ignores her possessiveness and greets Lily. Lily pretends to start walking to church, yet stops in a charming place, hoping that Selden will follow her. After a half hour of sitting, Lily listlessly moves on. Suddenly, Selden appears. Lily and Selden enjoy flirtatious banter. Lily reveals her goal to walk back from church with another person. They encounter the churchgoers returning to Bellomont. When Selden notices Percy he comprehends why Lily questioned him about Americana. Selden quickly invites Lily to devote her afternoon to increasing her book-collecting knowledge on a walk with him before he departs the next morning.

Lily excuses herself from her promise to walk with Percy on Sunday afternoon by feigning a headache; her pretext to herself is that she will not appear overeager in her pursuit of Percy. After the rest of the house guests motor to the Van Osburghs for an afternoon visit, Lily explains to Selden that a walk in the fresh air might do her good after all. Selden tells Lily that he does not flatter himself by believing that his presence has deflected her from her original plan.

Lily experiences a sense of freedom and lightness on her walk with Selden. Lily asks herself if it is love or simply the beauty of nature and her relief at escaping from Percy’s dullness. Lily admires Selden “for being able to convey as distinct a sense of superiority as the richest man she had ever met” (68). His friendly detachment, his knowledge of literature, his ironic assessments, his height, and refined features please her fastidious taste. When Lily asks Selden for his definition of success, he replies that it is personal freedom—to preserve “a kind of republic of spirit” (71). Selden believes that he can mingle with the wealthy without regarding acceptance from high society as a measure of success.

Lily is upset by the idea that Selden thinks her ambition to marry into wealth is sordid and unworthy of her. Selden’s attitude toward Lily changes when he perceives that she has some vulnerability beneath her calculation. She vehemently asks him why he makes the things she seeks seem hateful to her if he has nothing to give her instead. He agrees that he has nothing to give her, but if he did, he asserts it would be hers. Lily tells him he belittles her by assuming she only cares for wealth. Lily asks Selden if he wants to marry her. Selden laughingly denies that he does, but states that he might if she wanted to marry him. They accuse each other of cowardice but share a special moment of feeling drawn to each other.

They hear a car motor and Lily suddenly wants to return to Bellomont to preserve the story she told Percy of not feeling well. Lily’s reaction shocks Selden back into his usual view of Lily as a manipulator. He slowly lights a cigarette to recover after their idealistic closeness, returning to his attitude of cynical aloofness.

Judy Trenor chastises Lily for not being serious about marrying Percy and for interfering with Bertha Dorset by monopolizing Selden. Percy left the Bellomont house party early because Bertha retaliated by poisoning his mind against Lily. Bertha frightened Percy with the tale of Lily’s former gambling debt when she needed to borrow from old Ned Van Alstyne to pay it. Lily informs Judy that Van Alstyne was her father’s cousin and that she repaid the loan. Lily realizes her reputation has been damaged.

Her hostess asks Lily, instead of Carry Fisher, to drive to the train station and pick up her husband, Gus Trenor, because the divorcée has been borrowing too much money from him. On her way to the station, Lily reflects on the injustice of being condemned for borrowing money from an elderly cousin for a few hours, while an oft-married woman, such as Carry, can be tolerated taking money from other people’s husbands.

At the station, Gus is delighted to see Lily whom he finds attractive. Gus repels Lily, but she wonders if he can help her invest money with a Wall Street tip. She pretends to enjoy extending the drive with Gus, while she appeals to his sympathy, confiding to him that his wife is angry at her for not marrying Percy for his wealth. She allows Gus to believe that she could not bring herself to make that kind of marriage. Lily portrays her financial woes as the result of “having refused to sacrifice herself to expediency” (88). Gus assures her that he can make a handsome amount of money for her without endangering the small amount she possesses. Lily’s relief at solving her immediate monetary worries enables her to endure Gus’s increasing physical proximity. Lily tells herself that she can manage her friend’s husband so that she is not under any inappropriate obligation.