10 August 2009

He was taken aback by the change in her. She told him in a voice thrilling with emotion immediately after breakfast that she loved him; and when a little later they went into the drawing-room for his singing lesson and she sat down on the music-stool she put up her face in the middle of a scale and said:

"Embrasse-moi."

When he bent down she flung her arms round his neck. It was slightly uncomfortable, for she held him in such a position that he felt rather choked.

"Ah, je t'aime. Je t'aime. Je t'aime," she cried, with her extravagantly French accent.

Philip wished she would speak English.

"I say, I don't know if it's struck you that the gardener's quite likely to pass the window any minute."

"Ah, je m'en fiche du jardinier. Je m'en refiche, et je m'en contrefiche."

Philip thought it was very like a French novel, and he did not know why it slightly irritated him.

-- W. Somerset Maugham, OF HUMAN BONDAGE

2 comments:

Wade Garrett said...

Little-known fact about Maugham: his friends called him 'dubs.'

Ellen said...

I thought you were pulling my leg for a minute there, but once I put it in its proper context -- spoken in an English accent with a pipe in and "I say" in front -- it makes perfect sense. Besides, there were probably a lot of Williams at his club already.