Read Online The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham - Free Book Online Page A

bonds.'
    'All right then. Go into a law office or study medicine.'
    'No, I don't want to do that either.'
    'What do you want to do then?'
    'Loaf,' he replied calmly.
    'Oh, Larry, don't be funny. This is desperately serious.'
    Her voice quivered and her eyes filled with tears.
    'Don't cry, darling. I don't want to make you miserable.'
    He went and sat down beside her and put his arm round her. There was a tenderness in his voice that broke her and she could no longer hold back her tears. But she dried her eyes and forced a smile to her lips.
    'It's all very fine to say you don't want to make me miserable. You are making me miserable. You see, I love you.'
    'I love you too, Isabel.'
    She sighed deeply. Then she disengaged herself from his arm and drew away from him.
    'Let's be sensible. A man must work, Larry. It's a matter of self-respect. This is a young country, and it's a man's duty to take part in its activities. Henry Maturin was saying only the other day that we were beginning an era that would make the achievements of the past look like two bits. He said he could see no limit to our progress and he's convinced that by 1930 we shall be the richest and greatest country in the world. Don't you think that's terribly exciting?'
    'Terribly.'
    'There's never been such a chance for a young man. I should have thought you'd be proud to take part in the work that lies before us. It's such a wonderful adventure.'
    He laughed lightly.
    'I dare say you're right. The Armours and the Swifts will pack more and better meat, the McCormicks will make more and better harvesters, and Henry Ford will turn out more and better cars. And everyone'll get richer and richer.'
    'And why not?'
    'As you say, and why not? Money just doesn't happen to interest me.'
    Isabel giggled.
    'Darling, don't talk like a fool. One can't live without money.'
    'I have a little. That's what gives me the chance to do what I want.'
    'Loaf?'
    'Yes,' he answered, smiling.
    'You're making it so difficult for me, Larry,' she sighed.
    'I'm sorry. I wouldn't if I could help it.'
    'You can help it.'
    He shook his head. He was silent for a while, lost in thought. When at last he spoke it was to say something that startled her.
    'The dead look so terribly dead when they're dead.'
    'What do you mean exactly?' she asked, troubled.
    'Just that.' He gave her a rueful smile. 'You have a lot of time to think when you're up in the air by yourself. You get odd ideas.'
    'What sort of ideas?'
    'Vague,' he said, smiling. 'Incoherent. Confused.'
    Isabel thought this over for a while.
    'Don't you think if you took a job they might sort themselves out and you'd know where you were?'
    'I've thought of that. I had a notion that I might go to work with a carpenter or in a garage.'
    'Oh, Larry, people would think you were crazy.'
    'Would that matter?'
    'To me, yes.'
    Once more silence fell upon them. It was she who broke it. She sighed.
    'You're so different from what you were before you went out to France.'
    'That's not strange. A lot happened to me then, you know.'
    'Such as?'
    'Oh, just the ordinary casual run of events. My greatest friend in the air corps was killed saving my life. I didn't find that easy to get over.'
    'Tell me, Larry.'
    He looked at her with deep distress in his eyes.
    'I'd rather not talk about it. After all, it was only a trivial incident.'
    Emotional by nature, Isabel's eyes again filled with tears.
    'Are you unhappy, darling?'
    'No,' he answered, smiling. 'The only thing that makes me unhappy is that I'm making you unhappy.' He took her hand and there was something so friendly in the feel of his strong firm hand against hers, something so intimately affectionate, that she had to bite her lips to prevent herself from crying. 'I don't think I shall ever find peace till I make up my mind about things,' he said gravely. He hesitated. 'It's very difficult to put into words. The moment you try to you feel embarrassed. You say to yourself: "Who am I that I should bother my