The Custom of the Country

Undine Spragg and her mother, Leota, along with Mrs. Heeny (a society connector) are in the Hotel Stentorian. Undine is disappointed that the letter she’s received isn’t from Claud Walsingham Popple, a portrait artist she met the night before. The note is from Ralph Marvell’s sister, Laura Fairford, a member of a high-society family. Laura has written to invite Undine to dinner even though they haven’t yet met. Mrs. Heeny explains that when a society man wants to meet a woman who has drawn his attention, he often has his sister invite the young woman. The Spraggs moved to New York City from Apex City two years earlier but had difficulty networking into society until Mrs. Heeny was called in. Mrs. Spragg “had no ambition for herself […] and she sometimes fancied that Mrs. Heeny, who crossed those sacred thresholds so familiarly, might some day gain admission for Undine” (7). Undine’s father, Abner, has spent considerable money funding their New York lifestyle, but Undine hasn’t gained much social traction. The Spraggs have been lonely and anxious about Undine’s lack of acquaintances. Abner returns home and tells his wife that he encountered Elmer Moffatt, which produces anxiety in both parents.