They were the Blaines of Lake Geneva; they had quite enough relatives to serve in place of friends, and an enviable standing from Pasadena to Cape Cod.

But Beatrice grew more and more prone to like only new acquaintances, as there were certain stories, such as the history of her constitution and its many amendments, memories of her years abroad, that it was necessary for her to repeat at regular intervals.

Like Freudian dreams, they must be thrown off, else they would sweep in and lay siege to her nerves.

But Beatrice was critical about American women, especially the floating population of ex-Westerners.
"They have accents, my dear," she told Amory, "not Southern accents or Boston accents, not an accent attached to any locality, just an accent"-- she became dreamy.

"They pick up old, moth-eaten London accents that are down on their luck and have to be used by some one.