Lily's first thousand-dollar cheque from Gus Trenor arrives with a blotted scrawl and immediate relief. She pays her tradesmen, sends a fresh order with each payment, and tells herself the arrangement is sound business. Trenor writes that he has made five thousand for her from Rosedale's tip and put four thousand back in the same venture, with the promise of another big rise. Judy Trenor thanks her for listening to Gus's stories and says she will no longer need Carry Fisher to keep him in a good humour. Lily refuses to examine how the first sum was raised. Results feel like proof that her scruples were old-fashioned, a luxury she cannot afford while creditors wait.
At Jack Stepney's marriage to Miss Van Osburgh, a simple country wedding on the Hudson packed with fashion and orchids, she moves through the crowd with renewed confidence. She has declined to be a bridesmaid, meaning to be the chief figure when she next stands at an altar. She spots Percy Gryce's neat beard and pictures herself winning him back in the conservatories. Gerty Farish, dingy and cheerful among the wedding presents, names the white sapphire Gryce gave and says he is devoted to Evie Van Osburgh, the youngest and dullest of four daughters whose mother knows how to close a match. The names ring through Lily's head while she is still wearing the glow of Trenor's money.
Gus Trenor finds her, uses her Christian name, and says he has a cheque in his pocket that will go a long way at Tiffany's. He has sold out on the rise and pulled four thousand more. He wants two words with her, a return to Bellomont that evening, and one favour: that she be civil to Rosedale, whom Judy will not have in the country. Lily escapes to the terrace and meets Selden, who has come with Gerty and already slipped back to their old footing. Before the talk can recover, Trenor returns with Rosedale in his wake. Rosedale, reddening under her silence, asks if her ripping get-up is the last creation of the dress-maker she visits at the Benedick. She must charm him in front of Selden, then search the conservatories for Gryce and Evie, who are nowhere to be found.
Mrs Van Osburgh, flushed and beaming, stops her with a confidential gesture. Evie has been looking everywhere. The engagement will not be announced till next week, but they both wished Lily, as such a friend of Mr Gryce's, to be the first to know of their happiness. Evie has her secret and her mother's shelter. Lily still owes Trenor her civility to Rosedale.
Coming Up in Chapter 9
Lily comes back from the Van Osburgh wedding to Mrs Peniston's Fifth Avenue house, where October housekeeping feels like penance and soapsuds block the stairs. The Benedick charwoman looks up from her pail with the same stare Lily once met leaving Selden's rooms.
