ABSTRACT
The author's brother was also surrounded more than he wanted; and Mother, although she always stood up for traditions, seemed to consider social functions as a burden rather than a pleasure, and she was very much happier when she was playing the piano or leading her small amateur orchestra. In England, where social values are concentrated in the person of the King, one can see that an ascent or a descent on the social ladder might have a serious meaning, that those who are used to English court life, or to the glamour of its edges, might have no resources within themselves to withstand or conquer adversity. In such a country social bankruptcy, joined to inner emptiness, might border on tragedy. On entering, my attention was arrested by three enormous mirrors arranged as a triptych, so that the outer ones could move on their hinges and reflect from all angles a person standing in their midst.
