Chapters XIII-XIV
As this point in the novel, we see Lily's perfect plans tearing at the seams a bit. Wharton twists the plot, utilizing the very human response of suspicion, to play characters against one another. Seldon watches two shadows meeting in the Trenor household at night, "...as the door opened and two figures were seen silhouetted against the hall-light," (Wharton, 169). Seldon's situation is summed up in Wynonna Judd's song I Saw the Light. Whether he takes the same course of action that she does will be determined later in the novel. Continuing, Gerty, currently hanging on every word dripped from Seldon's mouth, fears an affair between Lily and Seldon. Trenor also succumbs to believing gossip about Lily and Seldon, and Seldon suspects a romance between Trenor and Lily. At this point, Lily's precious power over the men in her life is slowly spiraling out of her desperate control. As we discover more about Seldon's early life, we realize how much he really does love Lily.
Wharton expertly presents a "domino effect" as each character realizes how they have been lied to, cheated, and ultimately used by Lily and her aimless ambition.
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