The Dominant Strain

Beatrix Dane has attracted the attention of Sidney Lorimer, a wealthy man whose past gives her reason to hesitate. Her friend Sally sees an excellent match and urges her to overlook his conduct. At a New York recital, however, Beatrix finds her thoughts absorbed by the voice of Cotton Mather Thayer, a singer recently returned from years in Germany and Italy. Anna Chapin Ray places these encounters among drawing-room conversations, social ambitions and arguments about what makes a suitable husband.

Music also supplies a working world beyond the parties. Thayer rehearses with a chorus, while Bobby Dane arrives to cover a concert for the press and jokes about the language of criticism. The novel pairs Beatrix's serious uncertainty with brisk, teasing exchanges between friends. Readers interested in courtship stories and the social life surrounding musical performance will find both personal judgment and artistic reputation under discussion.