not excuse her. All I am saying is, if Lucy were rich, she may have less occasion/need to be actively malicious. This is just one of the ways by which she protects her self-interest.

I have always read the word "cut" in that sentence that way from context. I could be wrong. It somehow doesn't make sense to me that Lucy would go around snubbing people who could host her and her husband. Many people seem to like Lucy, after all, since she makes a huge effort to flatter them. After all the text says she spent a lot of time in Dawlish after marriage, and we know she is brilliant at getting invitations.