Gryce vs. Selden

Edith Wharton's House of Mirth features a woman named Lily Bart searching for a husband.  Thus far she has stumbled across two men that seem suitable, yet she seems to be only interested in one.  Percy Gryce is a painfully shy man who has trouble holding conversations with anyone unless they are about a few select topics, like Americana.  Miss Bart was able to completely control their conversation on a train ride and seems confident she could lure the wealthy man into marriage at any moment.  The other man of the story is Mr. Selden.  His relationship with Miss Bart seems a bit clouded at this point.  During his initial meeting with her on a train, she acted confident while the narrator hinted at a crush that Selden had on Miss Bart when he says "As a spectator, he had always enjoyed Lily Bart..." (Wharton, 2).  The reader is then made to believe through their conversation, which carries into his house, that they are simply friends, yet she lies to Mr. Rosedale about her whereabouts while she was in his apartment.  She goes onto fight against extending an invitation to him to a party and blushing every time his name is mentioned.  This leads the reader to believe Lily may have a crush on Selden too.  Both men she has interacted with are wealthy enough to take care of her, which she claims is her ultimate endgame.  Selden was the only one able to hold her interest, even luring her into his apartment, making her late.  Mr. Gryce had trouble speaking about almost everything, and Lily at one point that he was going to be boring her for life.  Personally, Selden seems like the obvious choice of with whom she should be involved, yet she's very against that and for a relationship with Mr. Gryce.  Possibly a currently unrevealed history between Selden and Lily is to blame for this strange detraction from him.