Interior designer Geoffrey Bradfield modestly quoted Marcel Proust as he was honored by the French Heritage Society in Manhattan — while many of the elegantly dressed guests tittered about how he just inherited $20 million from a British aristocrat who refused to leave the money to her stepson.

The South Africa-born designer to the upper echelons of society was the toast of the French Heritage Society’s Black & White Masquerade Ball on Thursday, attended by “soigné Francophiles clad in gowns and tuxedos,” according to one report.

“In the words of Marcel Proust, ‘If we are to make reality endurable, we must all nourish a fantasy or two,’” said Bradfield to the masked crowd who dined on filet mignon a la bordelaise. “For me, this is a magical moment that transcends fantasy. It is a wonderful, extraordinary reality.”

Bradfield did not refer to the more pressing reality whispered around the room following British reports revealing he’d just inherited half the fortune of the late Dowager Countess Gloria Bathurst, who refused to leave any money to her stepson the Earl of Bathurst in her will following a bitter feud — instead splitting it between Bradfield and another London-based interior designer Grant White.

Apparently, Bradfield had been a close friend of the American-born countess, who earned her title after marrying an “eccentric British Earl” for 40 years and often spent the holidays at her gorgeous 15,000-acre estate, Cirencester Park in Gloucestershire, England, which has its own polo club.

Guests at the French Heritage Masquerade Ball — which raises money to protect French architectural legacy both in France and the US — included Tara Rockefeller, Debbie Bancroft, William Featherby, Jean Shafiroff, Liliana Cavendish, Philippe Étienne, ambassador of France to the United States, Sharon Bush and Mark Gilbertson.