Alright, so this title doesn't have a lot to do with this part of the story unless like me, the gossip and speculation about Lily and her supposed relationship with Mr. Dorset is the "curiosity" and Lily's hope for a luxurious life is the "cat". Upon her return to New York, Mrs. Peniston, Lily and Grace Stepney's aunt, has died. To make Lily's entire situation (the debt, scandal with Mr. Trenor, scandal with Mr. Dorset, the fallout with Selden, etc.) immeasurably worse, Mrs. Peniston left all of her belongings to Grace Stepney over Lily, with the exception of ten thousand dollars. Apparently, Lily's aunt had heard the rumors all the way from Europe that Bertha Dorset had fabricated about her husband and Lily, in order to cover her own situation with Ned Silverton. This is really very sad. I would be heartbroken if my aunt whom had sheltered and provided for me since the deaths of my parents, as Lily's aunt did, died with such horrible misconceptions of me. Lily didn't make it back in time to correct these misunderstandings with her aunt. The fact that she went to such measures to change her will would shame me, even if I knew I was innocent. The fact is that Lily is not completely innocent, and she knows this. In regards to the rumored affairs with either Mr. Trenor or Mr. Dorset, Lily's record is clean. However, her choices and actions ultimately led to the rumors; therefore, Lily is truly at blame. She does not make a fuss about Bertha spreading these fabrications because it was Lily's job on the yacht to distract Mr. Dorset in the first place, so that no questions would be asked. Lily knows that her situation is dire. She desires to reclaim her social status (only she would think of such things in her circumstance) and looks to Mrs. Trenor, her former friend for assistance. Unexpectedly, Mrs. Trenor is not friendly with Lily at all and Lily realizes that this must be due to her debt to Mr. Trenor, her $9,000 dollar debt (i'm sure the rumored affair between the two didn't help either). Lily decides that she must pay Mr. Trenor back a.s.a.p., "She must be quits with the Trenors first; after that she would take thought for the future" (Wharton 186). There is a slight flaw in Lily's resolution. It is nothing shy of brilliant for Lily to finally pay back her debt (I'm scared of what other scenarios Edith Wharton could dream up if Lily prolonged the inevitable any further); however, Lily has hardly any money to her name, let alone the amount needed to pay back the Trenors. She won't receive the money from her aunt's will for about a year as the lawyers sort through and finalize everything. I'm not sure if it is obvious yet my obsession with Harry Potter, but if not, here's another reference. The length of time scrutiny of the will reminds me of in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (the last book) when the Ministry of Magic examines Dumbledore's will for an unreasonable amount of time before giving Harry, Ron, and Hermione the gifts he left them in the will. I'm assuming the lawyers take so long to examine the will of Lily's aunt because of how wealthy she was and possibly the pure magnitude of things that she owned, unlike the Ministry of Magic who searched Dumbledore's will for possible hidden devices, codes,or tokens that could be used to take down Voldemort (I really hope that you have seen the movies and/or read the books because that probably sounded like complete gibberish if not). Regardless, Lily cannot yet pay back the Trenors, and while she waits for her inheritance, she can only afford to live the life of a commoner. How Lily will deal with her desperate situation is the question.
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