Roman Fever by Edith Wharton

I stumbled over this excellent short story by Edith Wharton after googling Winifred Peck.  Her name led me to the web site of Persephone books.  It was in there, in their most recent bi-annual newsletter, that I found and read Roman Fever.  By the time you reach the sting in the tail you've already seen what's coming.  The pleasure is in the getting there: Mrs Slade's disdain, repressed for quarter of a century; her hubris and the silent fall after pride.  You can almost hear the penny drop.  Mrs Ansley need say nothing more.