When she encounters these men, she puts up with boring conversations while trying to appear interested and entertained. It was Lily's mother who primarily influenced Lily's opinions. She believes, as a result of her mother's similar attitude that poor people are poor because of choices they made. Since Lily has become accustomed to a luxurious life over time, she is determined not to loose that way of life because of choices that she believes would cause her to be poor. She constantly is weighing her choices against their consequences in respect to how they will help her to achieve her goal to live a luxurious life. Eventually she is overcome by the copious amount of gossip that continuously surrounds her.
Lawrence Seldon is an attractive, intelligent man who poses as Lily's main love interest throughout the story. Although he is in the same social situation as Lily, because he is a man, he can support himself in his finances, and therefore does not rely upon marriage into wealthy families. Unlike Lily, he is comfortable in his life of living outside of the restricting social circles within which he associates because his family was once a part of that society before they lost all their fortune. He is aware of the fact that he has nothing to offer to Lily as far as finances and the luxurious life she desires. On the other hand Seldon desires, not a luxurious life, but a life free from the social constraint of the wealthy society. He is appalled by Lily's obvious willingness to do anything to achieve her goal of living a luxurious life. Yet he realizes, after spending much time with her, that there is much more to her than that obvious fault. He hears from countless people gossip about Lily. After his encounters with the people who told him this humiliating gossip he makes the decision to leave Lily and not make any future attempts to contact her. Eventually he is drawn back into Lily's life when she comes to his building to apologize to him for her uncouth manners towards him.
