Agnes van Rhijn quotes from The Gilded Age

Agnes van Rhijn

[to Marian] You're very obedient all of a sudden. What are you planning to spring on me?

Agnes van Rhijn

Your newfound piety may be put to good use after all.

Agnes van Rhijn

She thanks you for the letter that you did not show me and for the tickets that you purchased without my knowledge. She means to join us here just as soon as she has closed the house and sold her furniture.

Ada Brook

What a relief.

Agnes van Rhijn

A relief? And who is to support her? Exactly. Me. With the Van Rhijn money, which was not achieved at no cost to myself. You were allowed the pure and tranquil life of a spinster. I was not.

Ada Brook

I'm very grateful.

Agnes van Rhijn

So you should be.

Agnes van Rhijn

Now you need to know, we only receive the old people in this house. Not the new. Never the new.

Marian Brook

What's the difference?

Agnes van Rhijn

The old have been in charge since before the Revolution. They ruled, justly, until the new people invaded.

Ada Brook

It's not quite as simple as that.

Agnes van Rhijn

Yes, it is.

Marian Brook

Well, I'm new. I've only just arrived.

Agnes van Rhijn

Marian, never mind that the Brooks have been in Pennsylvania for a century and a half. My mother, your grandmother, was a Livingston of Livingston Manor, and they came to this city in 1674. You belong to old New York, my dear, and don't let anyone tell you different. You are my niece, and you belong to old New York.

Ada Brook

Well I like her strong views. I like her energy. Don't worry, Agnes. She's clever. She'll learn the rules.

Agnes van Rhijn

Will she? Revolutions are launched by clever people with strong views and excess energy.

Agnes van Rhijn

Who is this Mr. Raikes?

Ada Brook

The lawyer who settled Henry's estate.

Agnes van Rhijn

Do we have to receive him?

Ada Brook

He waived his fee.

Agnes van Rhijn

Oh, I see. Well, let's make it tea and be quick about it.

Agnes van Rhijn

New York is a collection of villages, my dear. We know the people who live in our own village.

Marian Brook

But not the ones who don't.

Oscar van Rhijn

The Russells live in your village, Mama. I could throw a stone from here and break their windows.

Agnes van Rhijn

Don't tease me.

Oscar van Rhijn

I'm not. I'm stating facts.

Agnes van Rhijn

I'm not concerned with facts. Not if they interfere with my beliefs.

Oscar van Rhijn

Why would you want to go to Brooklyn?

Marian Brook

As a matter of fact, I'm thinking of paying someone a surprise visit. She may need cheering up.

Agnes van Rhijn

So should I if I lived in Brooklyn.

Agnes van Rhijn

Charity has two functions in our world, my dear. The first is to raise funds for the less fortunate, which is wholly good. The second is to provide a ladder for people to climb into society who do not belong there.

Marian Brook

And that is wholly bad?

Agnes van Rhijn

Not wholly, perhaps, but it should give us pause.

Agnes van Rhijn

Mrs. Russell has fired her maid.

Marian Brook

I'm amazed. She didn't give a hint of it when I was with her.

Ada Brook

You must have been more eloquent than you realized.

Marian Brook

Will you write to her?

Agnes van Rhijn

Of course I won't write to her! She might write back.

Ada Brook

You must acknowledge the letter. She's done what you asked.

Peggy Scott

[entering] Is there anything that you'd like me to do before you get changed?

Agnes van Rhijn

Please thank Mrs. Russell for this note, but without a trace of warmth.

Agnes van Rhijn

All our staff seem to have pressing engagements outside this house.

Marian Brook

Servants must have a life, Aunt Agnes.

Agnes van Rhijn

Why?

Agnes van Rhijn

You're an impressive young woman. Not everyone will support your ambitions, to say the least of it. But you are strong enough to manage that.

Peggy Scott

Thank you. I'll try to be.

Agnes van Rhijn

Don't you ever get tired of that wretched tapestry? You're like Penelope waiting for Odysseus to get home.

Marian Brook

Aunt Ada likes needlework.

Agnes van Rhijn

I like ice cream. That doesn't mean I eat it twenty-four hours a day.

Marian Brook

Are we supposed to applaud our eternal damnation if we have wine with dinner?

Agnes Van Rhijn

My applause was in gratitude that she's finally finished.