Who would not grieve upon a gilded chair?
Who would not suffer amid perfumed tapestries, cushioned furniture, and liveried servants?
Grief under such circumstances becomes an enticing thing.
Carrie longed to be of it.

She wanted to take her sufferings, whatever they were, in such a world, or failing that, at least to simulate them under such charming conditions upon the stage.

So affected was her mind by what she had seen, that the play now seemed an extraordinarily beautiful thing.

She was soon lost in the world it represented, and wished that she might never return.

Between the acts she studied the galaxy of matinee attendants in front rows and boxes, and conceived a new idea of the possibilities of New York.