"Of course he would," she said. "It shouldn't have been left to him to decide." Boyd Carrington asked what she meant. "I mean that anyone who's weak - in pain and ill - hasn't got the strength to make a decision. They can't. It must be done for them. It's the duty of someone who loves them to make the decision."

"Duty?" I queried dubiously.

Judith turned on me.

"Yes, duty. Someone whose mind is clear and who will take the responsibility." Boyd Carrington shook his head.

"And end up in the dock charged with murder?"

"Not necessarily. Anyway, if you love someone, you would take the risk."

"But look here, Judith," said Norton. "What you're suggesting is simply a terrific responsibility to take."

"I don't think it is. People are too afraid of responsibility. They'll take responsibility where a dog is concerned - why not with a human being?"

"Well - it's rather different, isn't it?"

Judith said:

"Yes, it's more important."

Norton murmured:

"You take my breath away."

Boyd Carrington asked curiously:

"So you'd take the risk, would you?"

"I think so," said Judith. "I'm not afraid of taking risks." Boyd Carrington shook his head.

"It wouldn't do, you know. You can't have people here, there, and everywhere taking the law into their own hands. Deciding matters of life and death." 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 were quite sure of your motive. 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."