Pleasure Reading 5. Chapter 5

Isabel persuaded Maugham to take them on a tour of the rougher areas of Paris. In a cafe they met a drunken American named Sophie MacDonald, who was an old friend of Isabel. Sophie had never gotten over the loss of her husband and baby in a car crash. She became promiscuous and took to drink. Some while later, Larry, who had known Sophie since she was fourteen, decided he wanted to save her from the degradation of her life. He proposed marriage, and she accepted. Isabel was distraught at this news, but Maugham advised her to make friends with Sophie in order to keep Larry in her life. Isabel agrees to do so, but she is not at home when Sophie arrives at her apartment for the shopping expedition they had planned. Isabel had left instructions for a bottle of Polish vodka to be left on a tray in the vacant apartment. Sophie was duly tempted and went back to her former dissolute lifestyle. Her marriage to Larry never took place. Meanwhile, Elliott's health was failing, and he was desperately disappointed not to have received an invitation to a grand party given by Princess Novemali. Maugham managed by a trick to get him an invitation, and Elliott died happy.