ItcouldcertainlynotbethefaultofMrs。Bart，whowasspokenofbyherfriendsasa\"wonderfulmanager。\"Mrs。Bartwasfamousfortheunlimitedeffectsheproducedonlimitedmeans；andtotheladyandheracquaintancestherewassomethingheroicinlivingasthoughoneweremuchricherthanone’sbank-bookdenoted。
Lilywasnaturallyproudofhermother’saptitudeinthisline:
shehadbeenbroughtupinthefaiththat，whateveritcost，onemusthaveagoodcook，andbewhatMrs。Bartcalled\"decentlydressed。\"Mrs。Bart’sworstreproachtoherhusbandwastoaskhimifheexpectedherto\"livelikeapig\"；andhisreplyinginthenegativewasalwaysregardedasajustificationforcablingtoParisforanextradressortwo，andtelephoningtothejewellerthathemight，afterall，sendhometheturquoisebraceletwhichMrs。Barthadlookedatthatmorning。
Lilyknewpeoplewho\"livedlikepigs，\"andtheirappearanceandsurroundingsjustifiedhermother’srepugnancetothatformofexistence。Theyweremostlycousins，whoinhabiteddingyhouseswithengravingsfromCole’sVoyageofLifeonthedrawing-roomwalls，andslatternlyparlour-maidswhosaid\"I’llgoandsee\"tovisitorscallingatanhourwhenallright-mindedpersonsareconventionallyifnotactuallyout。Thedisgustingpartofitwasthatmanyofthesecousinswererich，sothatLilyimbibedtheideathatifpeoplelivedlikepigsitwasfromchoice，andthroughthelackofanyproperstandardofconduct。
Thisgaveherasenseofreflectedsuperiority，andshedidnotneedMrs。Bart’scommentsonthefamilyfrumpsandmiserstofosterhernaturallylivelytasteforsplendour。