Perhaps future generations will struggle to understand Miss DelaSalle's obsession with aristocratic status.
In present-day Paris, the life circumstances of a banker's daughter are far more affluent than those of most aristocratic daughters.
Since the 17th century, the best areas in Paris, like Place Royale, Saint-Louis Island, Place Vendôme, and all the highlights of the fashionable districts, have belonged to these bankers' assets.
These people hold a place in French society, possessing their own spheres of influence. Although they live lives akin to nobility, enjoying the influence and lifestyle traditionally exclusive to princes and nobles, most of them lack noble lineage.