Merry Go Round by W. Somerset Maugham Read Free Book Online Page A

with than the others. He thought his neighbour quite pretty, notwithstanding her five-and-thirty years; and the somewhat faded look of a thin blonde was counterbalanced by the magnificence of her jewels and the splendour of her gown: this was cut so low that Bella from the other side of the table naively wondered how on earth it was kept on at all.
    When the men were left to smoke, Reggie, helping himself to a third glass of port, drew his chair to Hurrell's.
    'I say, Frank,' he exclaimed, 'that was a nice little woman next to me, wasn't it?'
    'Had you never met Mrs Castillyon before?'
    'Never! Regular ripper, ain't she? By Jove! I thought this dinner would be simply deadly – politics and religion, and all that rot. The mater always makes me come, because she says there's intellectual conversation. My God!'
    Frank laughed at the idea of Mrs Barlow-Bassett combining instruction with amusement for her son at Miss Ley's dinner-table.
    'But Mrs Castillyon's a bit of all right, I can tell you. Little baggage! And she don't mind what you say to her. ... Why, she isn't like a lady at all.'
    'Is that a great recommendation?'
    'Well, ladies ain't amusing, are they? You talk to 'em of the Academy and all that sort of rot, and you've got to take care you don't swear. Ladies may be all very well to marry, but, upon my soul, for giving you a good time I prefer them a bit lower in the scale.'
    A little later, on the stairs, when they were going up to the drawing-room, Reggie slipped his arm through Frank's.
    'I say, old man, don't give me away if my mater thanks you for asking me to dinner on Saturday.'
    'But I haven't. Neither have I the least desire that you should dine with me on that day.'
    'Good Lord! d'you think I want to come – and talk about bugs and beetles all the evening? Not much! I'm going to dine with a little girl I know – typewriter, my boy, and a real love touch. Stunning little thing, I can tell you.'
    'But I don't see why, because you wish to entertain a young person connected with typewriting, I should imperil my immortal soul.'
    Reggie laughed.
    'Don't be an ass, Frank; you might help me. You don't know how utterly rotten it is to have a mother like mine who wants to keep me tied to her apron-strings. She makes me tell her everything I do, and of course I have to fake up some yarn. The only thing in it is that she'll swallow any damned lie I tell her.'
    'You can tell her lies till you're blue in the face,' said Frank, 'but I don't see why the devil I should.'
    'Don't be a beast, Frank. You might help me just this once. It won't hurt you to say I'm grubbing with you. The other night, by Jove! I nearly gave the show away. You know she always waits up for me. I told her I should be working late with my crammer, and went to the Empire. Well, I met a lot of chaps there and got a bit squiffy. There would have been a shindy if she'd noticed it, but I managed to pull myself together a bit, and said I'd got the very deuce of a headache. And next day I heard her tell someone that I was next door to a teetotaller.'
    They reached the drawing-room and Frank found himself close to Mrs Bassett.
    'Oh, Dr Hurrell,' she said, 'I want to thank you so much for asking Reggie to dinner on Saturday. He's been working so hard that I think a little relaxation will do him good. And his tutor keeps him sometimes till past eleven – it can't be good for him, can it? The night before last he was so tired when he came in that he could scarcely get up the stairs.'
    'I'm delighted that Reggie should care to come and dine with me sometimes,' answered Frank, somewhat grimly.
    'I'm always glad to think he's with you. It's so important that a young man should have really trustworthy friends, and I feel sure your influence is good for him.'
    Reggie, listening to this, gave Frank a very slow and significant wink, then went off with a light heart to resume his conversation with Mrs Castillyon.

5
    P RESENTLY all Miss Ley's guests, except Frank