I have read a book by Maugham “The Magician”. The main characters Arthur and Margaret loved each other. Margaret was the daughter of a widowed lawyer with whom Arthur had been friendly, and when he died, Arthur became the girl’s guardian. He tried to give her everything she could possibly want, and when, at the age of 17, she told him about her wish to go to Paris and learn drawing, he agreed at once. But when the girl discovered that her father had died penniless and she had lived ever since at Arthur’s expense, she came to him with tears in her eyes and asked him how she could repay him. He told her he loved her dearly and asked her if she wanted to marry him. She accepted his proposal, but they decided to marry when she turned nineteen. One day their friend Porhoet introduced them to Oliver Haddo, who claimed he was a magician. He was a very unpleasant man and Margaret didn’t like him. He told them about his supernatural powers but Arthur only laughed at him scornfully. Oliver got very angry but still invited them to a fair in order to show them his talent for magic. There was a snake-charmer with a venomous snake. Oliver allowed the snake to bite his hand. It began to bleed. He whispered some words and the bleeding stopped. But Arthur was still incredulous and spoke to him with his usual scorn. Oliver couldn’t forgive him and started planning revenge. He knew the worst pain for Arthur would be to lose his beloved Margaret. One day, as Margaret was walking to her friend, she saw Mr. Haddo lying on the ground. She came up to him and helped him to get to his flat. He said that he had some problems with his heart. While they were talking, Margaret suddenly noticed that his voice didn`t irritate her any more. She felt she was falling in love with him. She couldn’t help seeing him every day. She simply got addicted to him. One morning he told her that he had to leave Paris and if she wanted she could marry him. She agreed. The last evening before her departure she was with Arthur. Her feelings were confused. She was smiling at Arthur and kept telling him how much she loved him but at the same time she felt she was being drawn to Haddo by some irresistible force. The next day she left a letter to Susie in which she broke the news of her marriage and asked her to explain everything to Arthur. When Arthur saw the letter he was totally distressed. He deliberately preoccupied himself with work so as not to think of Margaret. He lost weight and his hair became white. There was nothing to be heard of her.
One day Arthur and Susie were invited to a restaurant and there they saw Margaret and Oliver. Margaret looked happy but unnaturally agitated. Having realized that Margaret was under a spell of magic, Arthur decided to go to Margaret and have a talk with her. She told him that she hated Oliver but couldn’t resist his power. He came to understand that Oliver wanted to take revenge upon him. Arthur took her to Susie’s home. But two days later she disappeared again. After a while Susie heard that Margaret was dead. Arthur was sure that Oliver had killed her for his experiment and he decided to punish him. He asked Dr. Richardson to help him evoke Margaret’s ghost. When they had prepared everything, the lamp suddenly went out and they heard someone’s steps in the darkness. Arthur knew that it was Oliver and he threw himself upon him. He dug his fingers into Oliver’s throat and stifled him. When they came downstairs they saw some substances and utensils which testified to the fact that he had been experimenting with reproduction of life and finally discovered its secret. They set his house on fire. The whole story brought Susie and Arthur together and they set off for a closer relationship.