You know exactly what I’ve got. Eight th...

You know exactly what I’ve got. Eight thousand a year. D’you think I could have got the position I have on that? You’re not under the impression all the world comes to my house because of my charm, are you? I’m not. You don’t think the English want us here? You don’t think they like us marrying their men? Good heavens, when you’ve known England as long as I have, you’ll realize that in their hearts they still look upon us as savages and Red Indians. We have to force ourselves upon them. They come to me because I amuse them. Very early in my career I discovered that the English can never resist getting something for nothing. If a dancer is the rage, they’ll see her at my house. If a fiddler is in vogue, they’ll hear him at my concert. I give them balls. I give them dinners. I’ve made myself the fashion, I’ve got power, I’ve got influence. But everything I’ve got — my success, my reputation, my notoriety — I’ve bought it, bought it, bought it.

For full extended monologue, please refer to clips or the script edition cited here: W. Somerset Maugham, Our Betters, William Heinemann LTD, 1924, pp. 196-197.