Maurice

Scudder asks Maurice whether he should leave. Feeling awkward, Maurice asks his first name, and learns that it’s Alec. Alec says Maurice’s expression intrigued him the first time he saw him; he has also noticed Maurice at his window from the lawn below. He suggests that Maurice lock the bedroom door, and the two men fall asleep. They wake early in the morning, and Alec once again asks whether he should go; he needs to prepare for the cricket match. Maurice is reluctant to see Alec leave, discussing his dreams and asking about Alec’s own: “Did you ever dream you’d a friend, Alec? Nothing else but just ‘my friend’, he trying to help you and you him” (197). Alec doesn’t answer, but he urges Maurice to go back to sleep as he climbs out the window.

Maurice unlocks the door and returns to bed. He’s woken later by a servant, which reminds him of Alec’s station, and he worries about what to do: “He would have to give Scudder some handsome present now, indeed he would like to, but what should it be? What could one give a man in that position?” (198). As he dresses, he notices some mud Alec left near the window, and his anxiety increases.