Mrs. Astor determined that for acceptance into society, one must be at least three generations removed from whoever’s hands had been dirtied in the making of money. As her own husband was living off the fortune made by his grandfather, whose hands had been stained with beaver blood, Mrs. Astor herself was just in the clear. And then, of course, there was the amount of money under consideration. The consuls didn’t settle on a specific number, unless that number was “more.”
