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13 - Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham · Moon and Sixpence

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  Speaker 1: Chapters thirty four, thirty five, and thirty six of The
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  Speaker 1: Moon and Sixpence. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
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  Speaker 1: to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recorded by very Ds.
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  Speaker 1: The Moon and Sixpence by William summercent Maum, chapter thirty four.
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  Speaker 1: But though I was no less convinced than Struve that
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  Speaker 1: the connection between Strickland and Blanche would end disastrously, I
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  Speaker 1: did not expect the issue to take the tragic form
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  Speaker 1: it did. The summer came breathless and sultry, and even
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  Speaker 1: at night there was no coolness to rest one's jaded nerves.
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  Speaker 1: The sun baked streets seemed to give back the heat
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  Speaker 1: that had beat down on them during the day, and
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  Speaker 1: the passers by dragged their feet along them wearily. I
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  Speaker 1: had not seen Strickland for weeks. Occupied with other things,
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  Speaker 1: I had ceased to think of him and his affairs. Dirk,
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  Speaker 1: with his vain lamentations, had begun to bore me, and
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  Speaker 1: I avoided his society. It was a sordid business, and
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  Speaker 1: I was not inclined to trouble myself with it. Further.
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  Speaker 1: One morning I was working. I sat in my pajamas.
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  Speaker 1: My thoughts wandered, and I thought of the sunny beaches
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  Speaker 1: of Brittany and the freshness of the sea. By my
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  Speaker 1: side was the empty bowl in which the concierge had
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  Speaker 1: brought me my cafe a lats, and the fragment of croissant,
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  Speaker 1: which I had not had appetite enough to eat. I
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  Speaker 1: heard the concierge in the next room, emptying my bath.
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  Speaker 1: There was a tinkle at my bell, and I left
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  Speaker 1: her to open the door. In a moment, I heard
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  Speaker 1: Stroe's voice asking if I was in. Without moving, I
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  Speaker 1: shouted to him to come. He entered the room quickly
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  Speaker 1: and came up to the table at which I sat.
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  Speaker 1: She's killed herself, he said, hoarsely, What do you mean?
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  Speaker 1: I cried, startled. He made movements with his lips as
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  Speaker 1: though he were speaking, but no sound issued from them.
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  Speaker 1: He gibbered like an idiot. My heart thumped against my ribs,
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  Speaker 1: and I do not know why I flew into a temper.
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  Speaker 1: For God's sake, collect yourself, man, I said, what on
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  Speaker 1: earth are you talking about? He made despairing gestures with
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  Speaker 1: his hands, but still no words came from his mouth.
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  Speaker 1: He might have been struck dumb. I do not know
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  Speaker 1: what came over me. I took him by the shoulders
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  Speaker 1: and shook him. Looking back, I am vexed that I
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  Speaker 1: made such a fool of myself. I suppose the last
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  Speaker 1: restless Knights had shaken my nerves more than I knew.
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  Speaker 1: Let me sit down, he gasped at length. I filled
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  Speaker 1: a glass with Saint Galmre and gave it to him
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  Speaker 1: to drink. I held it to his mouth as though
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  Speaker 1: he were a child. He gulped down a mouthful, and
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  Speaker 1: some of it was spilt on his shirt front. Who's
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  Speaker 1: killed herself? I do not know why I asked for
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  Speaker 1: I knew whom he meant. He made an effort to
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  Speaker 1: collect himself. They had a row last night, he went away.
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  Speaker 1: Is she dead? No, they've taken her to the hospital.
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  Speaker 1: Then what are you talking about? I cried impatiently. Why
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  Speaker 1: did you say she'd killed herself? Don't be cross with me.
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  Speaker 1: I can't tell you anything if you talk to me
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  Speaker 1: like that. I clenched my hands, seeking to control my irritation.
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  Speaker 1: I attempted a smile. I'm sorry, take your time, don't hurry,
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  Speaker 1: there's a good fellow. His round blue eyes behind the
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  Speaker 1: spectacles were ghastly with terror. The magnifying glasses he wore
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  Speaker 1: distorted them. When the concierge went up this morning to
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  Speaker 1: take a letter, she could get no answer to her ring.
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  Speaker 1: She heard some one groaning. The door wasn't locked, and
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  Speaker 1: she went in. Blanche was lying on the bed. She
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  Speaker 1: had been frightfully sick. There was a bottle of oxalic
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  Speaker 1: acid on the table. Druve hid his face in his
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  Speaker 1: hands and swayed backwards and forward, groaning. Was she conscious? Yes, Oh,
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  Speaker 1: if you knew how she's suffering, I can't bear it.
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  Speaker 1: I can't bear it. His voice rose to a shriek.
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  Speaker 1: Damn it all. You haven't got to bear it, I
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  Speaker 1: cried impatiently. She's got to bear it. How can you
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  Speaker 1: be so cruel? What have you done? They sent for
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  Speaker 1: a doctor and for me, and they told the police.
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  Speaker 1: I'd given the concierge twenty francs and told her to
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  Speaker 1: send for me if anything happened. He paused a minute,
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  Speaker 1: and I saw that what he had to tell me
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  Speaker 1: was very hard to say. When I went, she wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: speak to me. She told them to send me away.
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  Speaker 1: I swore that I forgave her everything, but she wouldn't listen.
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  Speaker 1: She tried to beat her head against the wall. The
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  Speaker 1: doctor told me that I mustn't remain with her. She
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  Speaker 1: kept on saying send him away. I went and waited
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  Speaker 1: in the studio, and when the ambulance came and they
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  Speaker 1: put her on a stretcher, they made me go in
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  Speaker 1: the kitchen so that she wouldn't know I was there. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I for struve wished me to go at once with
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  Speaker 1: him to the hospital. He told me that he had
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  Speaker 1: arranged for his wife to have a private room so
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  Speaker 1: that she might at least be spared the sordid promiscuity
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  Speaker 1: of a ward. On our way, he explained to me
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  Speaker 1: why he desired my presence. If she still refused to
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  Speaker 1: see him, perhaps she would see me. He begged me
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  Speaker 1: to repeat to her that he loved her still, he
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  Speaker 1: would reproach her for nothing, but desired only to help her.
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  Speaker 1: He made no claim on her, and on her recovery,
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  Speaker 1: would not seek to induce her to return to him.
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  Speaker 1: She would be perfectly free. But when we arrived at
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  Speaker 1: the hospital, a gaunt, cheerless building, the mere sight of
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  Speaker 1: which was enough to make one's heart sick. And after
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  Speaker 1: being directed from this official to that, up endless stairs
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  Speaker 1: and through long bare corridors, found the doctor in charge
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  Speaker 1: of the case. We were told that the patient was
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  Speaker 1: too ill to see anyone that day. The doctor was
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  Speaker 1: a little bearded man in white, with an off hand manner.
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  Speaker 1: He evidently looked upon a case as a case, and
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  Speaker 1: anxious relatives as a nuisance which must be treated with firmness. Moreover,
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  Speaker 1: to him, the affair was commonplace. It was just an
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  Speaker 1: hysterical woman who had quarreled with her lover and taken poison.
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  Speaker 1: It was constantly happening. At first, he thought that Dirk
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  Speaker 1: was the cause of the disaster, and he was needlessly
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  Speaker 1: brusque with him. When I explained that he was the
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  Speaker 1: husband anxious to forgive, the doctor looked at him suddenly
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  Speaker 1: with curious, searching eyes. I seemed to see in them
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  Speaker 1: a hint of mockery. It was true that Struve had
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  Speaker 1: the head of the husband who was deceived. That doctor
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  Speaker 1: faintly shrugged his shoulders. There is no immediate danger, he said,
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  Speaker 1: in answer to our questioning. One doesn't know how much
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  Speaker 1: she took it. May be that she will get off
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  Speaker 1: with a fright. Women are constantly trying to commit suicide
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  Speaker 1: for love, but generally they take care not to succeed.
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  Speaker 1: It's generally a gesture to arouse pity or terror in
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  Speaker 1: their lover. There was in his tone a frigid contempt.
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  Speaker 1: It was obvious that to him, Blanche Strouve was only
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  Speaker 1: a unit to be added to this statistical list of
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  Speaker 1: attempted suicides in the city of Paris during the current year.
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  Speaker 1: He was busy and could waste no more time on us.
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  Speaker 1: He told us that if we came at a certain
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  Speaker 1: hour next day, should Blanche be better, it might be
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  Speaker 1: possible for her husband to see her. So ends Chapter
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  Speaker 1: thirty four, Chapter thirty five. I scarcely know how we
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  Speaker 1: got through that day. Strouve could not bear to be alone,
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  Speaker 1: and I exhausted myself in efforts to distract him. I
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  Speaker 1: took him to the louver, and he pretended to look
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  Speaker 1: at pictures, but I saw that his thoughts were constantly
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  Speaker 1: with his wife. I forced him to eat, and after
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  Speaker 1: luncheon I induced him to lie down, but he could
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  Speaker 1: not sleep. He accepted willingly my invitation to remain for
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  Speaker 1: a few days in my apartment. I gave him books
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  Speaker 1: to read, but after a page or two he would
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  Speaker 1: put the book down and stare miserably into space. During
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  Speaker 1: the evening, we played innumerable games of piquet, and, bravely
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  Speaker 1: not to disappoint my efforts, he tried to appear interested.
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  Speaker 1: Finally I gave him a draft, and he sank into
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  Speaker 1: uneasy slumber. When we went again to the hospital, we
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  Speaker 1: saw a nursing sister. She told us that Blanche seemed
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  Speaker 1: a little better, and she went in to ask if
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  Speaker 1: she would see her husband. We heard voices in the
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  Speaker 1: room in which she lay, and presently the nurse returned
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  Speaker 1: to say that the patient refused to see any one.
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  Speaker 1: We had told her that if she refused to see Dirk,
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  Speaker 1: the nurse was to ask if she would see me,
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  Speaker 1: but this she refused. Also, Dirk's lips trembled. I dare
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  Speaker 1: not insist, said the nurse. She is too ill. Perhaps
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  Speaker 1: in a day or two she may change her mind.
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  Speaker 1: Is there any one else she wants to see? Asked Dirk,
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  Speaker 1: in a voice so low it was almost a whisper.
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  Speaker 1: She says she only wants to be left in peace.
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  Speaker 1: Dirk's hands moved strangely, as though they had nothing to
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  Speaker 1: do with his body, with a movement of their own.
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  Speaker 1: Will you tell her that if there is any one
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  Speaker 1: else she wishes to see, I will bring him. I
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  Speaker 1: only want her to be happy. The nurse looked at
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  Speaker 1: him with her calm, kind eyes, which had seen all
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  Speaker 1: the horror and pain of the world, and yet filled
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  Speaker 1: with the vision of a world without sin, remained serene.
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  Speaker 1: I will tell her when she is a little calmer. Dirk,
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  Speaker 1: filled with compassion, begged her to take the message at once.
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  Speaker 1: It may cure her. I beseech you to ask her now.
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  Speaker 1: With a faint smile of pity, the nurse went back
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  Speaker 1: into the room. We heard her low voice, and then
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  Speaker 1: in a voice I did not recognize, the answer, no, no, no.
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  Speaker 1: The nurse came out again and shook her head. Was
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  Speaker 1: that she who spoke? Then, I asked. Her voice sounded
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  Speaker 1: so strange. It appears that her vocal cords have been
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  Speaker 1: burnt by the acid. Dirk gave a low cry of distress.
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  Speaker 1: I asked him to go on and wait for me
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  Speaker 1: at the entrance, for I wanted to say something to
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  Speaker 1: the nurse. He did not ask what it was, but
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  Speaker 1: went silently. He seemed to have lost all power of will.
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  Speaker 1: He was like an obedient child. Has she told you
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  Speaker 1: why she did it? I asked, No. She won't speak.
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  Speaker 1: She lies on her back quite quietly. She doesn't move
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  Speaker 1: for hours at a time, but she cries always. Her
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  Speaker 1: pillow is all wet, she's too weak to use a handkerchief,
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  Speaker 1: and the tears just run down her face. It gave
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  Speaker 1: me a sudden wrench of the heart strings. I could
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  Speaker 1: have killed Strickland then, and I knew that my voice
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  Speaker 1: was trembling. When I bade the nurse good bye, I
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  Speaker 1: found Dirk waiting for me on the steps. He seemed
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  Speaker 1: to see nothing and did not notice that I had
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  Speaker 1: joined him till I touched him on the arm. We
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  Speaker 1: walked along in silence. I tried to imagine what had
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  Speaker 1: happened to drive the poor creature to that dreadful step.
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  Speaker 1: I presumed that Strickland knew what had happened, for someone
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  Speaker 1: must have been to see him from the police, and
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  Speaker 1: he must have made his statement. I did not know
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  Speaker 1: where he was. I supposed he had gone back to
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  Speaker 1: the shabby attic which served him as a studio. It
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  Speaker 1: was curious that she should not wish to see him.
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps she refused to have him sent for because she
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  Speaker 1: knew he would refuse to come. I wondered what an
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  Speaker 1: abyss of cruelty she must have looked into that, in
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  Speaker 1: horror she refused to live. So ends Chapter thirty five,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty six. The next week was dreadful. Struve went
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  Speaker 1: twice a day to the hospital to inquire after his wife,
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  Speaker 1: who still declined to see him, and came away at
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  Speaker 1: first relieved and hopeful because he was told that she
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  Speaker 1: seemed to be growing better, and then in despair because
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  Speaker 1: the complication which the doctor had feared having ensued recovery
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  Speaker 1: was impossed. The nurse was pitiful to his distress, but
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  Speaker 1: she had little to say that could console him. The
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  Speaker 1: poor woman lay quite still, refusing to speak, with her
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  Speaker 1: eyes intent as though she watched for the coming of death.
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  Speaker 1: It could now only be the question of a day
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  Speaker 1: or two. And when late one evening Struve came to
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  Speaker 1: see me, I knew it was to tell me she
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  Speaker 1: was dead. He was absolutely exhausted. His volubility had left
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  Speaker 1: him at last, and he sank down wearily on my sofa.
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  Speaker 1: I felt that no words of condolence availed, and I
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  Speaker 1: let him lie there quietly. I feared he would think
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  Speaker 1: it heartless if I read. So I sat by the window,
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  Speaker 1: smoking a pipe till he felt inclined to speak. You've
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  Speaker 1: been very kind to me, he said, at last, every
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  Speaker 1: one's been very kind. Nonsense, I said, a little embarrassed.
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  Speaker 1: At the hospital, they told me I might wait. They
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  Speaker 1: gave me a chair, and I sat outside the door.
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  Speaker 1: When she became unconscious, they said I might go in.
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  Speaker 1: Her mouth and chin were all burnt by the acid.
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  Speaker 1: It was awful to see her lovely skin all wounded.
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  Speaker 1: She died very peacefully, so that I didn't know she
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  Speaker 1: was dead till the sister told me. He was too
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  Speaker 1: tired to weep. He lay on his back, limply, as
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  Speaker 1: though all the strength had gone out of his limbs,
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  Speaker 1: And presently I saw that he had fallen asleep. It
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  Speaker 1: was the first natural sleep he had had for a week.
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  Speaker 1: Nature sometimes so cruel, is sometimes merciful. I covered him
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  Speaker 1: and turned down the light. In the morning, when I awoke,
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  Speaker 1: he was still asleep. He had not moved. His gold
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  Speaker 1: rimmed spectacles were still on his nose. So ends Chapter
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  Speaker 1: thirty six