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Portion I.

1. Michael Gosselyn’s office was furnished in good taste. Everyone

who came there realized at once that it was an office of the

manager of a first class theatre. The walls had been panelled

and on them hung engravings of theatrical pictures by Zoffany and

de Wilde. The carved furniture was solid. Only a specialist

could guess that it was not the real Chippendale.

Everybody knew that Michael was very thrifty and ran the theatre

on business-like lines. The decorator had to accept the client’s

terms and made the most of what he had. The room was designed

to make an impression of prosperity at the least possible

expense.

Michael was extremely proud of his office and Julia, who saw

through him, couldn’t help smiling at the complacency on his face.

2. Julia realized what a treat it would be for a young

accountant to have breakfast at her place, she was just not sure

if it would be proper to invite him. Julia gave him a doubtful

look. His confusion was so touching, he blushed scarlet. It was

clear that the sight of the famous actress took his breath away.

He admired her so frankly that Julia couldn’t but feel

flattered. His attitude made her feel larger than life-size, made

her the greatest actress. And a great actress must be generous.

It’s generosity that distinguishes a great actress. Julia thought

that she could make an exception for him. The young man was

invited.

3. Jimmie Langton was running a repertory theatre at Middlepool.

He was a talented director. At first sight it seemed strange

that actors agreed to work in his theatre. He worked his cast

hard. He screamed at them, he bullied them, he underpaid them, he

mocked them and drove them like slaves.

He had such a passion for the theatre, that the actors felt

that they couldn’t afford to let him down. It gave them a sort

of satisfaction to comply with his outrageous demands to please

him.

Jimmie had wanted to be an actor himself, but his physique

practically prevented him from going on the stage. He was fat,

bald-headed and looked like one of Rubens’ prosperous burghers.

Besides, he was a bad actor.

4. Julia was a born actress and she had no doubt that she

would go on the stage. Her career was singularly lacking in

hardship.

Her first teacher was an old French actress, who taught her all

necessary things : how to walk and how to hold herself on the

stage, how to articulate distinctly and how to use her sense of

timing, which Julia had by instinct. She was quick-studied.

A certain number of tricks that Julia had learned from her, later

turned to be out of date and Julia had to get rid of them.

She had to acquire a more conversational style to be able to

act in modern plays. But she always thought of Jane Taitbout

with gratitude.

5. Michael’s father was a Colonel. Neither he nor Michael’s

mother approved of the idea of Michael’s going on the stage.

Though they had to submit to that, they insisted that Michael

should be educated like a gentleman. Old Mr. Gosselyn was a

pensioner, but still, he managed to send Michael to Cambridge and

dreamt that Michael would excel there.

Michael was proud of his ancestry. He wore the signet ring with

the family stamp — a boar’s head — and a Latin motto : “Nemo me

impune lacessit”. On the whole, he wasn’t a snob, but he was

shocked to learn that Julia’s father was a vet.

6. Michael was determined to go into management and make a

career. He thought that there was only one way of becoming well-

off — that is to be one’s own master.

They could start on the minimum of five thousand pounds. He had

no idea how to raise a sum like that. He could hardly expect

to borrow money as he didn’t know anyone who could lend him

that sum. However, Michael hoped that an old rich lady would

support him.

Michael knew that one couldn’t hope to make a success in London,

unless he was unknown. One had got to know the ropes. If one

made a good reputation in London, it would be easier to find

backers.

Portion II.

1. Though Michael told Julia a lot about his family, she wasn’t

aware that they knew about her existence. That is why she

couldn’t but be surprised to receive a letter from Michael’s

mother who invited her to Cheltenham for Holy Week. The prospect

of spending a whole week with Michael was enchanting. It took

her breath away to think of it and she look forward to the

holidays.

It didn’t take her long to discover that Michael had brought

her down to Cheltenham for his parents to inspect her. The

thought flashed through her mind that there was only one possible

reason for it. When she thought of it, her heart leaped.

2. Michael was anxious for Julia to make a good impression on

his parents. Julia realized soon that she would be able to

enchant them. As a matter of fact, she was aware that she was

able to enchant anybody. It was clear that Michael’s parents were

not fond of the idea that their son was going to marry an

actress. Julia instinctively felt that she had to conceal the

actress and play the part of a modest ingenious girl.

Michael’s mother was happy to learn that Julia wasn’t made-up or

loud. No one would dream that Julia was on the stage. Besides,

she was head over ears in love with her son and it flattered

her motherly pride.

Julia gave a perfect performance of the village maiden.

3. Michael had affection and admiration for Julia, he felt at

ease with her. But he took her love for granted and it was

obvious that he wasn’t in love with her. It was no good

deceiving herself.

At first this made Julia unhappy. Now and then she lost control

of herself and made him frantic scenes.

But then she began to doubt if he was capable of loving

anybody. It didn’t seem worth while to suffer from it. Soon

Julia was content to love Michael whereas he allowed her to

love him.

4. When Julia found out that an American manager had offered

Michael a part, her heart sank. She had to exercise all her self-

control to pretend that she was as excited as he was. But

when Julia remained alone, she lost control of herself and began

to cry in earnest.

In America Michael was going to save every cent he could, so,

in two years he expected to have the best part of four thousand

pounds.

5. When Julia realized that she had fallen out of love with

Michael, she fell into despair. She felt that she had lost

something that was infinitely precious to her. Her heart sank.

She was displayed. She was inclined to cry, because her fortune

had failed her.

But when she had thought it over, her grief made a way to

relief. Now she was her own mistress and not a slave of her

love. Now she looked at Michael not with the eyes of a woman

in love but with shrewd penetrating eyes. Yes, it was great to

be free and she would be able to make the most of her freedom.

Portion III.

1. As soon as the war ended Michael began to work as an actor

and soon gained a reputation in London.

He spared no effort to force managers to pay him the salary

he thought he was worth, but if he couldn’t get it, he was

prepared to take less.

He still thought of going into management, but though they had

saved seven thousand pounds, the sum was inadequate.

Mrs. de Vries came to their rescue. She agreed to put up money

and become their partner.

2. As time went on, Michael took to directing. He still acted

occasionally, but less frequently than earlier. When he said he

was going to direct their next play, Julia was doubtful. She

suspected that nothing good would come of it. Michael had no

fantasy and his ideas were commonplace. But he made a much

better job of it, than Julia expected. As he knew perfectly

well what Julia was capable, he was able to get more out of

her than any other director.

With the cast he was friendly, but exacting. When tempers grew

frayed, his good humour, his real kindness smoothed things over.

3. Michael’s complacency exasperated Julia. He beamed with pleasure

when he managed to beat an opponent at golf or get the better

of someone in a business deal.

Besides, he was a crashing bore. He liked to tell Julia

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

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