everything he did and every scheme that passed through his mind.
It had been charming to listen to Michael, when she was head
over ears in love with him, but after she had fallen out of
love with him, Julia had to exercise all her tact not to show
him he was bored to death.
More over, he was outrageously vain of his appearance. As a
youth, he had taken his beauty for granted, but with advancing
years, he began to pay more attention to it and spared no pains
to keep what was left of it. It became an obsession.
4. Evie was Julia’s maid and dresser. She had been in Julia’s
employment for a long time. Evie was a cockney. One could get
it at once by listening to her speech. She was thin, angular and
her red hair always looked as if it needed washing. Two of her
front teeth were missing. No matter how hard Julia tried to
provide her with new ones, all her efforts were in vain.
Michael thought that Evie’s appearance wasn’t suitable to their
position and tried to persuade Julia to have another maid. But
Julia paid no attention to his dissatisfaction. She was content
to have Evie as her maid and dresser, she only wanted Evie to
break herself of the habit of sniffing all the time. Evie was a
skilful maid, she had never let Julia down. She had the courage
to say to Julia’s face what she thought of her. It amused Julia
greatly.
Portion IV.
1. Julia had a lot of acquaintances among aristocrats. As she
was such a famous actress, they made much of her and went out
of their way to be nice to her. She could boast of the fact
that she could call some duchesses by their first names.
The papers often put pictures where Julia was photographed at
week-end parties among a number of aristocratic persons. It was
good publicity. But at the bottom of her heart, Julia had a
profound contempt for the great ladies and noble lords, because
they lived in idleness and she was an artist. When she had a
chance, she was glad to put them in their place. She laughed at
these smart women up her sleeve, because they were dazzled by her
glamour and had no idea of how unromantic the life of a
successful actress was and the hard work it entailed.
2. Charles Tamerley was Julia’s best friend. He had such
exquisite manners, that one could see at once, how well-bred he
was. He was an amateur of the arts and well-read. Before meeting
Charles, Julia had been completely ignorant. He took her to
museums, imparted information to her. Julia had a good memory and
soon she could pass for a cultured woman as she was able to
talk about literature and art. Julia couldn’t help but be
conscious of how much she owed to him. Yet, his love of art
filled her with a faint derision. After all, she was a creator
and he was only a spectator.
3. Julia took Charles fancy twenty years ago and he had been
madly in love with her ever since. When finally he plucked up
the courage to make a declaration of love, Julia got into his
head that there was nothing doing. Exercising all her tact, Julia
managed to convince Charles that they should remain friends.
Charles was her adviser, her confidant. She could count upon him
coming to her rescue in any case. He never let her down.
4. Julia realized that Tom could hardly afford to entertain her
and she was taken by his desire to please her.
He said he had forgotten to put his watch on because he had
dressed in a hurry. But one look at him was enough to realize
that he had taken a lot of trouble to look smart.
When it dawned on her that he must have pawned his watch to
take her out to supper, she was inclined to cry. She might have
offered to pay the bill, but checked herself in time. It was out
of the question. It would have hurt his pride.
Portion V.
1. When Julia realized that she had fallen in love with Tom, she
was shocked. She was determined to keep her head. She couldn’t
afford to open her true feelings because she knew very well that
Tom wasn’t in love with her. She had to admit that an affair
with her flattered Tom’s vanity.
Julia did her best to make it plain to him that she laid no
claims on him and he was free to do whatever he wanted. She
pretended that she was a good actress. She promised to herself
that she wouldn’t be jealous, she wouldn’t make him any scenes,
she would be tolerant and would take things as they came. She
did everything she could to bind him to her.
2. Tom had a passion for titles. He read about grand people in
newspapers and now and then saw them in a restaurant or a
theatre in the flesh. He was dazzled by grand people. Tom was a
snob. But that was to the good. Julia hoped to make the most
of Tom’s failing to bind him to her. On one excuse and another,
she invited him to grand parties she gave, persuaded Dolly and
Charles to invite him to lunch, got invitations for him to balls.
Poor lamb ! He looked forward to every opportunity of getting
acquainted with eminent people.
Luckily, Michael took a fancy to him. He even thought Tom could
have a good influence on Roger.
Tom made a great hit with Julia’s friends too. He was a good
listener and could give a piece of useful advice on finance.
3. Something was bothering Tom. He looked gloomy and nervous.
When Julia found out that he had got into debt, she immediately
offered to pay all his debts. But sometimes Tom was so out of
date. He couldn’t sponge on women. Julia blamed herself that she
had led Tom into the life that he couldn’t afford. She tried to
convince him that he shouldn’t drudge her the pleasure of coming
to his rescue, when he was at a loose end. Using all her arts
of persuasion, she was able to convince Tom to borrow money from
her.
4. Julia and Michael were rich enough to send their son to Eton
and then to Cambridge.
Roger was seventeen years old. He didn’t look like his mother or
father. He had no inclination for the world of the theatre. He
held himself in some serious way aloof from his parents and
their friends, though he was always very polite to everybody,
Julia suspected, that he took none of them seriously. He never
bothered Julia and he seemed quite capable of amusing himself.
Though Julia loved him very much, he puzzled her. She thought him
dull and not very intelligent. When she was alone with him, time
dragged on.
When Roger was a child, Julia would often be photographed with
him and these photos made a great hit. She wished he could
always remain the sweet pretty little boy he used to be.
Portion VI.
1. It was no good deceiving herself : Tom didn’t love her. He
was her lover only because it flattered his vanity and gave him
confidence in himself. Besides, he got acquainted with many
distinguished persons through her. It turned his head to realize
that he was on familiar terms with some of them. Julia tried to
do her best to bind him. She encouraged him to be extravagant
to make him realize that he couldn’t do without her. Tom was
anxious to join a good club and she was preparing the ground.
She understood perfectly that their affair couldn’t last, but she
wasn’t able to give up Tom.
2. Julia wasn’t happy at all to find out that Tom was becoming
more and more popular with her grand friends. They were glad to
make the most of his financial knowledge and in their turn they
told their friends about him. It was through Julia, that Tom used
to be asked to parties before. Then he began to receive
invitations from people, whom Julia didn’t know. It seemed that he
could do without her. He was busy nearly all the time. His
casualness hurt Julia. Now she was ready to cut any date to see
him. Julia was jealous of those distinguished ladies, whom he met
in society. She had a law opinion of their virtue and was sure
that they could do everything. Those thoughts rankled her. The
only comfort was that all of them were very greedy and without
Julia’s money Tom wouldn’t be able to lead a life, he had got
used to. Or he would have to break himself of the habit of
throwing his money about.
3. Julia was shocked to find out that people had been gossiping
about her. Her reputation had been so good for many years, that
she thought she could afford to do every thing she wanted.
It was Michael, who first noticed that. He accused Tom jokingly
