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Norton said:
"Actually, you know, Boyd Carrington, most people wouldn't have the nerve to take the responsibility."
He smiled faintly as he looked at Judith.
"Don't believe you would if it came to the point."
Judith said composedly:
"One can't be sure, of course. I think I should."
Norton said with a slight twinkle:
"Not unless you had an axe of your own to grind."
Judith flushed hotly. She said sharply:
"That just shows you don't understand at all. If I had a - a personal motive, I couldn't do anything. Don't you see?" she appealed to us all. "It's got to be absolutely impersonal. You could only take the responsibility of - of ending a life if you otive. It must be absolutely selfless."
"All the same," said Norton, "you wouldn't do it."
Judith insisted:
"I would. To begin with I don't hold life as sacred as all you people do. Unfit lives, useless lives - they should be got out of the way. There's so much mess about. Only people who can make a decent contribution to the community ought to be allowed to live. The others ought to be put painlessly away,"
She appealed suddenly to Boyd Carrington.
"You agree with me, don't you?"
He said slowly:
"In principle, yes. Only the worthwhile should survive."
"Wouldn't you take the law into your own hands if it was necessary?"
Boyd Carrington said slowly:
"Perhaps. I don't know..."
Norton said quietly:
"A lot of people would agree with you in theory. But practice is a different matter."
"That's not logical."
Norton said impatiently:
"Of course it's not. It's really a question of courage. One just hasn't got the guts - to put it vulgarly."
Judith was silent. Norton went on:
"Frankly, you know, Judith, you'd be just the same yourself. You wouldn't have the courage when it came to it."
"Don't you think so?"
"I'm sure of it."
"I think you're wrong, Norton," said Boyd Carrington. "I think Judith has any amount of courage. Fortunately the issue doesn't often present itself."
The gong sounded from the house.
Judith got up.
She said very distinctly to Norton:
"You're wrong, you know. I've got more - more guts than you think."
She went swiftly towards the house. Boyd Carrington followed her, saying:
"Hey, wait for me, Judith."
I followed, feeling for some reason rather dismayed. Norton, ood, endeavoured to console me.
"She doesn't mean it, you know," he said. "It's the sort of half-baked idea one has when one is young - but fortunately one doesn't carry it out. It remains just talk."
I think Judith overheard, for she cast a furious glance over her shoulder.
Norton dropped his voice.
"Theories needn't worry anybody," he said. "But look here, Hastings -"
"Yes?"
Norton seemed rather embarrassed. He said:
"I don't want to butt in, but what do you know of Allerton?"
"Of Allerton?"
"Yes, sorry if I'm being a Nosy Parker, but frankly - if I were you, I shouldn't let that girl of yours see too much of him. He's - well, his reputation isn't very good."
"I can see for myself the sort of rotter he is," I said bitterly. "But it's not so easy in these days."
"Oh, I know. Girls can look after themselves, as the saying goes. Most of them can, too. But - well - Allerton has rather a special technique in that line."
He hesitated, then said:
"Look here, I feel I ought to tell you. Don't let it go further, of course - but I do happen to know something pretty foul about him."
