Some of these reunions took place in the lofty hotels moored like a
sonorously named fleet of battle-ships along the upper reaches of the
West Side: the Olympian, the Incandescent, the Ormolu; while others,
perhaps the more exclusive, were held in the equally lofty but more
romantically styled apartment-houses: the Parthenon, the Tintern Abbey
or the Lido.

Undine's preference was for the worldly parties, at which games were
played, and she returned home laden with prizes in Dutch silver; but
she was duly impressed by the debating clubs, where ladies of local
distinction addressed the company from an improvised platform, or the
members argued on subjects of such imperishable interest as: "What is
charm?" or "The Problem-Novel" after which pink lemonade and rainbow
sandwiches were consumed amid heated discussion of the "ethical aspect"
of the question.

It was all very novel and interesting, and at first Undine envied Mabel
Lipscomb for having made herself a place in such circles; but in time
she began to despise her for being content to remain there. For it did
not take Undine long to learn that introduction to Mabel's "set" had
brought her no nearer to Fifth Avenue. Even in Apex, Undine's tender
imagination had been nurtured on the feats and gestures of Fifth
Avenue. She knew all of New York's golden aristocracy by name, and the
lineaments of its most distinguished scions had been made familiar by
passionate poring over the daily press. In Mabel's world she sought
in vain for the originals, and only now and then caught a tantalizing
glimpse of one of their familiars: as when Claud Walsingham Popple,
engaged on the portrait of a lady whom the Lipscombs described as "the
wife of a Steel Magnet," felt it his duty to attend one of his client's
teas, where it became Mabel's privilege to make his acquaintance and to