intervene. He refuses. He reminds her of what Larry did for Gray, but she insists that Sophie is bad through and through and does not want to be helped. Maugham replies that drinking is not necessarily bad. He calls people bad who lie and cheat and are unkind. He tells her that Larry is in the grip of self-sacrifice and suggests that if she does not want to lose him altogether she should be nice to Sophie. So she asks Maugham to invite them all to lunch the next day, at the Ritz. After lunch, they have coffee in the lobby. Sophie and Larry decline liqueurs, and Elliott bemoans the fact that his doctor forbids alcohol. The waiter convinces Elliott that a little Persovka can do no harm, and Elliott waxes poetic: Drinking it is “like listening to music by moonlight.” Isabel samples it, somewhat dramatically, and agrees, asking for some to be sent to the apartment. Maugham watches Sophie's reaction. Isabel wants to give Sophie a wedding dress that she saw in Molyneux's, and laughingly tells Larry he can not come to the fitting—no husbands allowed. Isabel and Sophie arrange to meet at the apartment the next afternoon. Cut to the apartment, after the fitting. Isabel and Sophie have had non-alcoholic drinks. At last, they talk honestly—at least Sophie does. She has not had a drink since that night in the Rue de Lappe—clearly Larry went back for her immediately after he left the others. She admits what a struggle it is and says that she realizes that this is her last chance. She knew that Isabel was watching her at the Ritz. Isabel pours herself some Persovka and again praises it. She shows Sophie pictures of her children, which stirs memories of Linda. Then she asks Sophie to wait while she picks up her daughter from the dentist. They can talk more when she comes back. The butler removes the drinks tray; Isabel stares at the bottle of Persovka on the side table and then walks out. After a while, Sophie takes a drink. Larry scours the bars and dives, following the trail of a woman demanding Persovka until he tracks Sophie to an opium den. Sophie runs away, screaming, and disappears. Larry is beaten and thrown into the street; his last attempt to save his childhood companion from her depravity and despair has proved fruitless. A year