The Magician

Arthur Burdon arrives in Paris with professional introductions and a more personal purpose: seeing Margaret Dauncey. Walking through the Luxembourg gardens, he talks with Dr. Porhoët, an older physician who has known him since childhood. Their conversation sets Arthur's practical confidence as a surgeon beside Margaret's enthusiasm for art and beauty, while autumn leaves, passing children and the formal garden surround their discussion.

At Margaret's studio, another kind of expertise belongs to Susie Boyd, who chooses her clothes and argues firmly for fashionable dress. Margaret readily gives her friend credit, and Arthur's visit for tea reveals how completely his attention rests on her. These early scenes offer a novel attentive to conversation, appearance and differences of temperament. Readers interested in social observation can watch Maugham establish relationships through small gestures, private judgments and the contrast between artistic taste and professional discipline.