V
There was one small group of women, Gora soon discovered, that stood for
something besides amusement, sharply as some of them were identified with
all that was brilliant in the social life of the city. They read all that
was best in serious literature and fiction as soon after it came out as
their treadmill would permit, and they gave somewhat more time to it than
to poker. It was this small group, led by Mrs. Hunter, that in common with
several wealthy and clever Jewish women, with intellectual members of old
families that had long since dropped out of a society that gave them too
little to be worth the drain on their limited means, and with one or two
presidents of women's clubs, made up the small attendance at the lectures
on literary and political subjects, delivered either by some local light,
or European specialist in the art of charming the higher intelligence of
American women without subjecting it to undue fatigue.
This small but distinguished band discussed Gora separately and
collectively and placed the seal of approval upon her. With them her
arrival was genuine and permanent.
It was hardly a step from their favor to the many women's clubs of the
city, and she was invited to be the luncheon or afternoon guest at one
after another until all had entertained the rising star and she had learned
to make the little speeches expected of her without turning to ice.
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