The public at large—or at least the average reader of the financial pages in the paper—was indignant to see Mr. Rask gambling against the nation’s recovery. During this time, Mrs. Brevoort was exuberant in her grief, exploring all the social possibilities of mourning. She found unsuspected radiance in the deepest shades of black and made sure to surround herself with particularly plaintive and misty-eyed friends so that she could highlight her arrogant form of sorrow, which she called “dignified.”
The narrator, while not exactly Benjamin — not first person, is telling this story as a close compatriot of Benjamin’s.
