Maurice

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.

After breakfast, a servant asks Maurice if he will captain their cricket team. Maurice says he’s no good at cricket, and advises the servants to pick their best player, which turns out to be Alec. Maurice watches the game distractedly, but when it’s his turn to bat, Alec catches his eye: “[Maurice’s] mind had cleared, and he felt that they were against the whole world, that not only Mr Borenius and the field but the audience in the shed and all England were closing round the wickets” (201).

Clive eventually returns from a political engagement and joins the game; Maurice chats with him while waiting for his turn to come again. Afterwards, Maurice returns inside, once again anxious and ill; he vomits as soon as he enters his room, recalling the previous night.

Maurice decides to leave Penge, explaining away his sickness as sunstroke. Clive drives him to the station, and Maurice carefully asks him about Alec: “I could never run a job like Penge […] I should never know what type of servant to select. Take Scudder for instance. What class of home does he come from?” (205). Clive says his father was a butcher, intensifying Maurice’s feeling of revulsion and regret.

At home, Maurice receives a telegram from Alec asking to meet him in the boathouse: “A nice situation! It contained every promise of blackmail, at the best it was incredible insolence” (207). He struggles to sleep, missing Alec despite himself, and makes a second appointment with Lasker-Jones when he wakes. Before he can go, he receives a letter from Alec reiterating that he’d like to see Maurice before he emigrates. Maurice remains suspicious, and he hopes he can simply ignore Alec for the week and a half until his departure.

Maurice returns to Lasker-Jones eager to be “cured.” Lasker-Jones tries repeatedly to hypnotize him but finds it harder than before. After the third attempt, Maurice despondently asks what he should do, and Lasker-Jones advises him to go somewhere with the Napoleonic Code (which decriminalized being gay); he doesn’t believe England will ever pass similar laws.

Wistfully, Maurice remarks that men like him could once “get away” to the forest: “I don’t see how they could have kept together otherwise—especially when they came from such different classes” (211-12). He then acknowledges his night with Alec, wondering aloud whether it’s impeding his hypnosis, and whether the letter—which he has brought—could be used in court. Lasker-Jones agrees to try hypnotizing Maurice once more, provided he first explains everything that has happened. Maurice does, but the hypnosis still fails.

Maurice leaves Lasker-Jones frustrated that it was Alec he slept with, but newly accepting of his sexuality: “He was not afraid or ashamed anymore. After all, the forests and the night were on his side, not [society’s]; they, not he, were inside a ring fence” (214-15).

Another letter from Alec is waiting for him at home. It accuses Maurice of sending mixed signals, and of treating Alec poorly. Alec also says he knows about Maurice’s relationship with Clive.

Maurice considers the letter; its confused tone reminds him of himself, and he composes a reply asking Alec to meet him by the British Museum on Tuesday evening. At work the next day, Maurice finds himself dissatisfied with his job and disgusted by his clients’ complacency. 

Alec arrives at the museum deeply suspicious of Maurice, who suggests they go inside. As they walk, Maurice assures Alec that he’s not upset. Alec clumsily threatens him with exposure, but Maurice largely ignores this; instead, he explains that his relationship with Clive is over, and asks Alec about his letter. The two discuss marriage and children—unlike Maurice, Alec feels it’s “natural” to desire both men and women—before Alec turns the conversation back to his threats: “[I]t was thus for nearly twenty minutes: they kept wandering from room to room as if in search of something. […] Alec recommenced his hints—horrible, reptilian—but somehow they did not pollute the intervening silences, and Maurice failed to get afraid or angry” (223).

Suddenly, an elderly man approaches Maurice. The man is Mr. Ducie, but he can’t remember Maurice’s name, and Maurice denies having been at his school and claims his name is Scudder. Alec protests, saying he has a “serious charge” regarding Maurice (224), but Maurice simply agrees that it’s “awfully serious” (224). When Ducie wanders off, Alec tries to leave as well, saying he respects Maurice's nerve. Maurice accuses Alec of blackmail, and warns him that if he’d tried, he would have done his best to ruin Alec; afterwards, however, Maurice says he would likely have killed himself.

The pair go back outside and walk for a while. Alec asks why Maurice didn’t come to the boathouse, and Maurice says he was confused and afraid, which he suspects is also true of Alec. Alec remains guarded, but he begins to talk about himself and his family; eventually, he asks Maurice to spend the night with him. Maurice initially declines, saying he’s expected at a dinner party, but Alec challenges him on why his commitments should matter more than Alec’s, and Maurice agrees.

The next morning, Maurice wakes Alec so they can discuss what to do. This annoys Alec, who wants to savor the moment, and doesn’t enjoy thinking about Penge: “Penge where I was always a servant and Scudder do this and Scudder do that and the old lady, what do you think she once said? She said, ‘Oh would you most kindly of your goodness post this letter for me, what’s your name?’ What’s yer name!” (229). Alec did like Penge’s boathouse, and Maurice tells him they can still meet there, but Alec rejects this; he’s already getting dressed, and reminds Maurice that he’s emigrating in a few days.

Maurice urges him to stay in England: “It’s a chance in a thousand we’ve met, we’ll never have the chance again and you know it. Stay with me. We love each other” (231). Alec scoffs, accusing Maurice of spoiling his prospects; he’s also skeptical of Maurice’s offers to leave his job on his behalf. Maurice watches, sad but resigned, as Alec leaves, and then goes to work. 

Maurice impulsively goes to the docks the day Alec’s ship sails. He finds and meets Alec’s brother and parents, who are still waiting for Alec to arrive. As he listens to the Scudders, Mr. Borenius approaches Maurice. Startled, Maurice lets his expression slip revealingly: “And both of them remembered that initial silence of his, and his frightened gaze” (235). Borenius says it’s kind of Maurice to take an interest in Alec’s future; he himself hopes to give Alec a letter of introduction to a priest. Maurice listens nervously, sure that Borenius guesses his feelings, as Borenius laments Alec’s history of sexual escapades with women.

Borenius wanders off to speak to the Scudders, and Maurice hears Mrs. Scudder complaining about Alec. He goes up onto the deck, and as he watches the immigrants separate from those staying behind, he realizes that Alec still isn’t there. Triumphantly, he leaves the docks, stopping only briefly to talk to Borenius, who no longer seems threatening. Maurice takes a train to Penge and goes to the boathouse. Alec doesn’t answer his call, and Maurice fears he was mistaken, but when he goes inside, he finds Alec asleep. Waking, Alec asks him whether he got the telegram he sent that morning asking Maurice to come to the boathouse and tells him that “now [they] shan’t be parted no more, and that’s finished” (240).

A servant tells Clive, who’s working in his office, that Maurice is waiting outside. Clive invites Maurice in, but Maurice declines; Clive assumes his hurry involves his “engagement” and urges him to seek Anne’s advice, at which point Maurice says that he’s in love with Clive’s gamekeeper. Shocked, Clive says he’d hoped Maurice had left “the land through the looking-glass […] behind” (243). Maurice plainly states that he and Alec have had sex, and that Alec is remaining in England for his sake. Clive is scandalized but still hopes to change Maurice’s mind; however, Maurice says he has no right to know or say more, having sacrificed their own relationship.

Undeterred, Clive invites Maurice to dinner the following week; Maurice responds laughingly and turns to leave. Clive interprets this as acceptance, though in fact it’s the final time he ever sees him: “But at the time [Clive] was merely offended at a discourtesy, and compared it with similar lapses in the past […] He waited for a little in the alley, then returned to the house to correct his proofs and to devise some method of concealing the truth from Anne” (246).