ABSTRACT
It was the first week in May. London palpitated with the wild energy of pleasure-seeking and money-making. The season was in full swing, and promised to be one of the most successful on record. The English commercial world was uplift ed on a wave of prosperity, and money was plentiful. Everyone was happy and contented, for all shared in the good times. And now all the rich magnates, the Princes of Money, the Pillars of Commerce, the High Priests of the Golden Calf, were concentrating in London. They invaded the capital with their wives, daughters, and money-bags. In their case, to wish was to have, and any pleasure, any whim, even admittance to the Holy of Holies of Royalty, could be bought by signing a substantial cheque. The women of the money-bags mingled with the women of the aristocracy in the dazzling stream of fashion, spending their days and nights in a ceaseless whirl of gaiety.
