"But I thought that the munitions millionaires made so much that they found it hard to get rid of it."
"This is a wonderful town, Miss Deane. It affords opportunity for everyone and everything. No man ever made money so fast that New York couldn't take it away from him. If the ordinary methods are not sufficient, some brilliant New Yorker will invent something new. And they're inventing them for Darcy—and ten thousand other Darcys, too."
Clancy stared at the squat little millionaire a few seats away.
"He doesn't look very brilliant," she announced.
"He isn't," said the judge.
"But he's worth millions," protested Clancy.
"That doesn't prove brilliance. It proves knack and tenacity, that's all," said her host. "Some of the most brilliant men I know are paupers; some of the most stupid are millionaires."
"And vice versa?" suggested Clancy.
The judge shrugged.
"The brilliant millionaires are wealthy despite their brilliance. My child, money was never so easy to make—or so easy to spend. And those who make it are spending it."