Culture, Character, Etiquette, and Reputation

A lesson of guarding your reputation, as born out of a real-life scandal.

The Valley of Wyoming by Jasper Francis Cropsey, 1865 (The Met, public domain)

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of fitting in.

And when you’re from an upper-class family, it’s not only preferred, it’s required.

That’s precisely the world that Emily Price knew. Born in Baltimore in 1872, Emily came from a family with roots in the United States going back as far as the Mayflower. Her mother was a product of a coal empire, and her father was a successful and ambitious architect who moved them to New York, where he designed skyscrapers in the city and the stone-gated Tuxedo Park, a country escape for the rich.

Miss Price was the portrait of the Gilded Age: attractive, regal, and indulged. She knew only the world of cotillions, Astors, Morgans, and country “cottages” that were more mansions than quaint bungalows.

As was proscribed for her type, she …