ABSTRACT
Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, has always represented the outpost, perhaps the last bastion, of aristocracy in a capital dedicated to the popular, the democratic. It has been in this northwestern district of Washington that the rich, the diplomatic, the appointed (as opposed to the elected) members of our government have congregated, finding not only congeniality in taste and good manners, but also a certain sympathy with high ideals of government not always to be found in those favored by the popular vote. Felix and Gladys Leitner had established in a yellow Georgian house on a prominent corner, and Gladys had filled it with gold-framed mirrors surmounted by eagles’ heads, spindly-legged extra tables, marble-topped consoles and American eighteenth-century primitives. As usual, she had been recklessly extravagant; she was determined to be the first hostess of Georgetown.
