The House of Mirth: Book I, Chapters VII and VIII

In this next section of Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth, Miss Bart discovers that Mr. Gryce has left Bellomont because she has scared him away. Miss Bart then decides to turn to a minor character who has only been mentioned a few times in the novel. She approaches Mr. Trenor and in utilizes her skill of charming others is able to come up with a solution; he invests her money for her in order to generate a greater revenue. Mr. Trenor is now given an important role which consists of keeping money and debt related stress off of Miss Bart's shoulders. Miss Bart is now almost forced to become good friends with Mr. Trenor, and keep herself on his good side so that nobody finds out about these circumstances. Mr. Trenor is now a new liability that Miss Bart must worry about and keep in balance. She believes that it will be, "Reassuringly easy to keep Trenor in a good humour" (Wharton, 69). Moreover, with this new found friendship comes a new challenge to Miss Bart. In order to repay Mr. Trenor for his services, Miss Bart must find favor with Mr. Rosedale and accept him as an acquaintance. I am interested to see whether the role of Mr. Trenor will become a successful move on Miss Bart's part, or whether she will regret it in the future.