To Let by John Galsworthy (the beginning after the end novel read TXT) 📖
- Author: John Galsworthy
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She Cried While Timothy Was Being Prepared, And They All Had Sherry
Afterwards Out Of The Yearly Christmas Bottle, Which Would Not Be
Needed Now. Ah! Dear! She Had Been There Five-And-Forty Years And
Smither Nine-And-Thirty! And Now They Would Be Going To A Tiny House In
Tooting, To Live On Their Savings And What Miss Hester Had So Kindly
Left Them--For To Take Fresh Service After The Glorious Past--No! But
They Would Like Just To See Mr. Soames Again, And Mrs. Dartie, And Miss
Francie, And Miss Euphemia. And Even If They Had To Take Their Own Cab,
They Felt They Must Go To The Funeral. For Six Years Mr. Timothy Had
Been Their Baby, Getting Younger And Younger Every Day, Till At Last He
Had Been Too Young To Live.
They Spent The Regulation Hours Of Waiting In Polishing And Dusting, In
Catching The One Mouse Left, And Asphyxiating The Last Beetle, So As To
Leave It Nice, Discussing With Each Other What They Would Buy At The
Sale. Miss Ann's Work-Box; Miss Juley's (That Is Mrs. Julia's) Seaweed
Album; The Fire-Screen Miss Hester Had Crewelled; And Mr. Timothy's
Hair--Little Golden Curls, Glued Into A Black Frame. Oh! They Must Have
Those--Only The Price Of Things Had Gone Up So!
It Fell To Soames To Issue Invitations For The Funeral. He Had Them
Drawn Up By Gradman In His Office--Only Blood Relations, And No
Flowers. Six Carriages Were Ordered. The Will Would Be Read Afterwards
At The House.
He Arrived At Eleven O'clock To See That All Was Ready. At A Quarter
Past Old Gradman Came In Black Gloves And Crape On His Hat. He And
Soames Stood In The Drawing-Room Waiting. At Half-Past Eleven The
Carriages Drew Up In A Long Row. But No One Else Appeared. Gradman Said:
"It Surprises Me, Mr. Soames. I Posted Them Myself."
"I Don't Know," Said Soames; "He'd Lost Touch With The Family."
Soames Had Often Noticed In Old Days How Much More Neighbourly His
Family Were To The Dead Than To The Living.
Part III XI (The Last Of The Forsytes) Pg 136But, Now, The Way They Had
Flocked To Fleur's Wedding And Abstained From Timothy's Funeral, Seemed
To Show Some Vital Change. There Might, Of Course, Be Another Reason;
For Soames Felt That If He Had Not Known The Contents Of Timothy's
Will, He Might Have Stayed Away Himself Through Delicacy. Timothy Had
Left A Lot Of Money, With Nobody In Particular To Leave It To. They
Mightn't Like To Seem To Expect Something.
At Twelve O'clock The Procession Left The Door; Timothy Alone In The
First Carriage Under Glass. Then Soames Alone; Then Gradman Alone; Then
Cook And Smither Together. They Started At A Walk, But Were Soon
Trotting Under A Bright Sky. At The Entrance To Highgate Cemetery They
Were Delayed By Service In The Chapel. Soames Would Have Liked To Stay
Outside In The Sunshine. He Didn't Believe A Word Of It; On The Other
Hand, It Was A Form Of Insurance Which Could Not Safely Be Neglected,
In Case There Might Be Something In It After All.
They Walked Up Two And Two--He And Gradman, Cook And Smither--To The
Family Vault. It Was Not Very Distinguished For The Funeral Of The Last
Old Forsyte.
He Took Gradman Into His Carriage On The Way Back To The Bayswater Road
With A Certain Glow In His Heart. He Had A Surprise In Pickle For The
Old Chap Who Had Served The Forsytes Four-And-Fifty Years--A Treat That
Was Entirely His Doing. How Well He Remembered Saying To Timothy The
Day After Aunt Hester's Funeral: "Well, Uncle Timothy, There's Gradman.
He's Taken A Lot Of Trouble For The Family. What Do You Say To Leaving
Him Five Thousand?" And His Surprise, Seeing The Difficulty There Had
Been In Getting Timothy To Leave Anything, When Timothy Had Nodded. And
Now The Old Chap Would Be As Pleased As Punch, For Mrs. Gradman, He
Knew, Had A Weak Heart, And Their Son Had Lost A Leg In The War. It Was
Extraordinarily Gratifying To Soames To Have Left Him Five Thousand
Pounds Of Timothy's Money. They Sat Down Together In The Little
Drawing-Room, Whose Walls--Like A Vision Of Heaven--Were Sky-Blue And
Gold, With Every Picture-Frame Unnaturally Bright, And Every Speck Of
Dust Removed From Every Piece Of Furniture, To Read That Little
Masterpiece,--The Will Of Timothy.
Part III XI (The Last Of The Forsytes) Pg 137With His Back To The Light In Aunt
Hester's Chair, Soames Faced Gradman With His Face To The Light On Aunt
Ann's Sofa; And, Crossing His Legs, Began:
"This Is The Last Will And Testament Of Me Timothy Forsyte Of The Bower
Bayswater Road London I Appoint My Nephew Soames Forsyte Of The Shelter
Mapledurham And Thomas Gradman Of 159 Folly Road Highgate (Hereinafter
Called My Trustees) To Be The Trustees And Executors Of This My Will.
To The Said Soames Forsyte I Leave The Sum Of One Thousand Pounds Free
Of Legacy Duty And To The Said Thomas Gradman I Leave The Sum Of Five
Thousand Pounds Free Of Legacy Duty."
Soames Paused. Old Gradman Was Leaning Forward, Convulsively Gripping A
Stout Black Knee With Each Of His Thick Hands; His Mouth Had Fallen
Open So That The Gold Fillings Of Three Teeth Gleamed; His Eyes Were
Blinking; Two Tears Rolled Slowly Out Of Them. Soames Read Hastily On.
"All The Rest Of My Property Of Whatsoever Description I Bequeath To My
Trustees Upon Trust To Convert And Hold The Same Upon The Following
Trusts Namely. To Pay Thereout All My Debts Funeral Expenses And
Outgoings Of Any Kind In Connection With My Will And To Hold The
Residue Thereof In Trust For That Male Lineal Descendant Of My Father
Jolyon Forsyte By His Marriage With Ann Pierce Who After The Decease Of
All Lineal Descendants Whether Male Or Female Of My Said Father By His
Said Marriage In Being At The Time Of My Death Shall Last Attain The
Age Of Twenty-One Years Absolutely It Being My Desire That My Property
Shall Be Nursed To The Extreme Limit Permitted By The Laws Of England
For The Benefit Of Such Male Lineal Descendant As Aforesaid."
Soames Read The Investment And Attestation Clauses, And, Ceasing,
Looked At Gradman. The Old Fellow Was Wiping His Brow With A Large
Handkerchief, Whose Brilliant Colour Supplied A Sudden Festive Tinge To
The Proceedings.
Part III XI (The Last Of The Forsytes) Pg 138"My Word, Mr. Soames!" He Said, And It Was Clear That The Lawyer In Him
Had Utterly Wiped Out The Man: "My Word! Why, There Are Two Babies Now,
And Some Quite Young Children--If One Of Them Lives To Be Eighty--It's
Not A Great Age--And Add Twenty-One--That's A Hundred Years; And Mr.
Timothy Worth A Hundred And Fifty Thousand Pound If He's Worth A Penny.
Compound Interest At Five Per Cent Doubles You In Fourteen Years. In
Fourteen Years Three Hundred Thousand--Six Hundred Thousand In
Twenty-Eight--Twelve Hundred Thousand In Forty-Two--Twenty-Four Hundred
Thousand In Fifty-Six--Four Million Eight Hundred Thousand In
Seventy--Nine Million Six Hundred Thousand In Eighty-Four--Why, In A
Hundred Years It'll Be Twenty Million! And We Shan't Live To See It! It
Is A Will!"
Soames Said Dryly: "Anything May Happen. The State Might Take The Lot;
They're Capable Of Anything In These Days."
"And Carry Five," Said Gradman To Himself. "I Forgot--Mr. Timothy's In
Consols; We Shan't Get More Than Two Per Cent With This Income Tax. To
Be On The Safe Side, Say Seven Million. Still, That's A Pretty Penny."
Soames Rose And Handed Him The Will. "You're Going Into The City. Take
Care Of That, And Do What's Necessary. Advertise; But There Are No
Debts. When's The Sale?"
"Tuesday Week," Said Gradman. "Life Or Lives In Bein' And Twenty-One
Years Afterwards--It's A Long Way Off. But I'm Glad He's Left It In The
Family." ...
The Sale--Not At Jobson's, In View Of The Victorian Nature Of The
Effects--Was Far More Freely Attended Than The Funeral, Though Not By
Cook And Smither, For Soames Had Taken It On Himself To Give Them Their
Hearts' Desires. Winifred Was Present, Euphemia, And Francie, And
Eustace Had Come In His Car. The Miniatures, Barbizons, And J. R.
Drawings Had Been Bought In By Soames; And Relics Of No Marketable
Value Were Set Aside In An Off-Room For Members Of The Family Who Cared
To Have Mementos.
Part III XI (The Last Of The Forsytes) Pg 139These Were The Only Restrictions Upon Bidding
Characterised By An Almost Tragic Langour. Not One Piece Of Furniture,
No Picture Or Porcelain Figure Appealed To Modern Taste. The
Humming-Birds Had Fallen Like Autumn Leaves When Taken From Where They
Had Not Hummed For Sixty Years. It Was Painful To Soames To See The
Chairs His Aunts Had Sat On, The Little Grand Piano They Had
Practically Never Played, The Books Whose Outsides They Had Gazed At,
The China They Had Dusted, The Curtains They Had Drawn, The Hearth-Rug
Which
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