Every attempt has been made to replicate the original as printed. Some typographical errors have been corrected;a list follows the text. (etext transcriber's note) |
MRS. CRADDOCK
W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
| By W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM |
| OF HUMAN BONDAGE |
| THE MOON AND SIXPENCE |
| MRS. CRADDOCK |
| THE EXPLORER |
| NEW YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY |
MRS. CRADDOCK
By
W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
AUTHOR OF “THE MOON AND SIXPENCE,”
“OF HUMAN BONDAGE,” ETC.
NEW 
YORK
GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY
Printed in the United States of America
EPISTLE DEDICATORY
Dear Miss Ley,—You will not consider it unflattering if I ask myselfwhen exactly it was that I had the good fortune to make youracquaintance; for, though I am well aware the date is not far distant, Iseem to have known you all my life. Was it really during the summerbefore last, at Naples? (I forget why you go habitually to winterresorts in the middle of August; the reasons you gave were ingenious butinconclusive—surely it is not to avoid your fellow-countrymen?) I wasin the Gallery of Masterpieces, looking at the wonderful portrait-statueof Agrippina, when you, sitting beside me, asked some question. We beganto talk—by the way, we never inquired if our respective families weredesirable; you took my reputability for granted—and since then we havepassed a good deal of time together; indeed, you have been seldom absentfrom my thoughts.
Now that we stand at a parting of ways (the phrase is hackneyed and youwould loathe it), you must permit me to tell you what pleasure yourregard has given me and how thoroughly I have enjoyed our intercourse,regretting always that inevitable circumstances made it so rare. Iconfess I stand in awe of you—this you will not believe, for you haveoften accused me of flippancy (I am not half so flippant as you); butyour thin and mocking smile, after some remark of mine, continuallymakes me feel that I have said a foolish thing, than which in your eyesI know there is no greater crime.... You have told me that when anacquaintance has left a pleasant recollection, one should resist thetemptation to renew it; altered time and surroundings create newimpressions which cannot rival with the old, doubly idealised by noveltyand absence. The maxim is hard, but therefore, perhaps, more likely tobe true. Still, I cannot wish that the future may bring us nothingbetter than forgetfulness. It is certain that our paths are different, Ishall be occupied with other work and you