Trenor. This sows seeds of doubt and discomfort in Aunt Julia who, though shocked, does not discuss the situation with her niece so as to avoid a scene. Furthermore, Lily has destroyed her relationship with Gus and Judy Trenor. Judy's attitude toward Lily has cooled, partly due to Lily's financial relationship with Gus and partly because Lily now avoids Bellomont because she does not wish to hold up her end on what everybody else believes to be a pay-for-play relationship. To avoid having to spend time alone with her aunt, the Trenors, Simon Rosedale, or anyone else she considers a possible source of embarrassment or boredom, Lily begins to accept invitations from people with whom she would not ordinarily socialize. These include the Wellington Brys, who are newcomers to the New York social scene, and whose social rise is being engineered by Carry Fisher. Carry, who earns money by acting as a social secretary to usher newly wealthy people into fashionable society, invites Lily to social events hosted by Louisa Bry. Lily also attends the opera with Carry, Simon Rosedale, and Gus Trenor. In the eyes of high society, Lily cheapens herself by voluntarily associating with her social inferiors. She returns briefly to Bellomont only to find that she is now being teased by her social peers for socializing with the upstart Brys and with Simon Rosedale. Lily is not entirely without resources for social rehabilitation or at least blackmail. One of her aunt's temporary servants, who is also the charwoman at Selden's apartment, sells Lily a package of torn love letters. These were written by Bertha Dorset, and they represent an opportunity for Lily to blackmail her enemy. But instead of blackmailing Bertha into a positive relationship, Lily tries to neutralize the gossip by making herself useful to Bertha. Bertha, who has a new love interest in the form of a young man named Ned Silverton, relies on Lily to distract her husband George Dorset. The extent to which Lily's reputation is damaged becomes obvious when Lily publicly appears in a way that comes across as advertising her availability for an illicit relationship. Following Mrs. Fisher's advice, the Wellington Brys throw a large "general entertainment" featuring a series of tableaux vivants portrayed by a dozen fashionable women in their set, including Miss Bart. The pièce de résistance of this highly successful event turned out to be the portrayal of