Many thanks for this full quote AnotherCat: it sounds to be a book well worth reading and I shall try to get my hands on it.
Yes, I'm sure you are right that it is Maugham's nature, but I believe it is also the result of his upbringing. He built a protective shell over himself and was not able to respond to gestures of affection by others, because he had not experienced them himself as a child.
It's a common thing among older generations of people brought up on what I think of as the English "stiff upper lip" system. As the child of two English parents I know whereof I speak!
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