"...No matter what it did to her dignity, she would."

In the final pages of Rumors there is the tragic death of Will Keller, the discovery that Elizabeth is in fact alive and the forced marriage of Henry Schoonmaker and Penelope Hayes. All of these things have helped Diana Holland see the error of her ways. She knows that she is in love with Henry and that he is not meant to be with Penelope. "This longing was the first emotion she had been able to feel since she had heard about the awful thing that happened to Will. She knew if she could satisfy that feeling in any way, no matter her dignity she would" (423). Her constant longing for Henry is nothing she can change and seeing her sister fall into a shocked depression after losing her true love Diana knows that she must get Henry back. Before she held herself back and protected herself because of her meaningless pride but now she does not care what she has to do to get him back. The tragic and drastic turn of events in the final chapters gave Diana an entirely new perspective on the importance of certain people and certain things in her life. When things get crazy and out of the ordinary you check your priorities and sometimes you find that they are not in the proper order.

Analysis of Penelope Hayes

Penelope Hayes,the "best friend" Elizabeth Holland before she died (ran of to California). Before her friend's "death" Penelope was known for her outgoing personality and as a fixture at all of the greatest parties of upper class New York. Know that her friend is out of the way Penelope is after Elizabeth's fiance, Henry. On her mission for Henry's heart she has become an entirely new person on the outside but still her scheming self on the inside. Her new, quiet and polite facade she is putting on for the press and Henry's parents is working on them but she is making no progress with the one she really cares about, Henry. Penelope's desperation for Henry's love shows a new side of Penelope. She does not have a heart of stone as many people believe, she truly has feelings and they have been hurt by the cold shoulder Henry is giving her. The soft side of Penelope rarely comes out but when it does it is only in her head and she never lets anyone see her hurt or embarrassed. The Penelope that the public of New York knows is a cold hearted party girl who get whatever she wants. But she is the only one who knows there is one thing that will not fall in to the palm of her hand, Henry Schoonmaker's attention and love.

"It occurred to her, standing at the edge of that little room..."

With all of the exclusive parties, private get together's and complicated relationships in the inner circle of the upper class New York the outsiders will do anything for glimpse of the inside. You would think everyone on the inside has no reason to give insight on the goings on of the young and rich but one person does. Diana Holland, her newly and secretly poor family is financially struggling and it forces Diana to sell the stories of her peer and herself. She finds it exciting but she realizes she is no longer as innocent as she was at one time. "It occurred to her, standing at the edge of that little room and looking down, selling observations that were supposed to evaporate in the air so that they would be laid down in print instead, that she was no longer an innocent"(185). Diana's current financial situation has pushed her into situations that if she was still a lady of extreme wealth would be viewed and undeniably inappropriate. As her family continues to spend money they do not have Diana will have to become more and more independent and reliable. I think her current way of making money is foreshadowing for drama when the true life of ladies of high society is spilled on the front page and that Diana will be joining the working class sometime soon.

"She could not help but feel a little quiet..."

As Carolina Broude, the Holland family's former maid, is climbing her way up in the social rankings she receives and invitation from a much older and much wealthier man to go to the opening night of the opera. She accepts but not because of a desire for the company of the man extending her the invitation to the elegant event. Her true desire for attending is to be among the wealthy and to prepare herself to impress the man she really loves. "She could not help but feel a little quiet surrounded by people who ordered girls like her around from their first waking moments..."(108) When Carolina arrives at the mans box she finds that they will not be spending the evening alone, the box was full of some of the wealthiest men in New York and in the world. It seemed that they all had interest in Carolina, but being unaccustomed to such situations she did not know how to react. As a maid she was invisible but now she does not have her uniform to hide behind. Her reaction to the attention she gets at the opera, insecure, shows that although she may look it she is not yet a true lady of high society New York. Also she may be among the elite but inside she is still the girl she was raised as,not the daughter of a wealthy iron smelter in California. She is really a modest maid who does not wear fancy gowns or goes to the opera. I think that her lies will soon be found out and her time in the upper class will soon be a memory.