Sentence:  The idea of his frivolity had, no doubt, to do with his personal designation, which represented—as yet, for our young woman, a little confusedly—a connection with an historic <WSD>patriciate</WSD>, a class that, in turn, also confusedly, represented an affinity with a social element that she had never heard otherwise described than as "fashion." 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  The aristocracy or nobility