To Let by John Galsworthy (the beginning after the end novel read TXT) 📖
- Author: John Galsworthy
Book online «To Let by John Galsworthy (the beginning after the end novel read TXT) 📖». Author John Galsworthy
Six Thousand Top Hats, Four Thousand Parasols Would
Be Doffed And Furled, Ten Thousand Mouths All Speaking The Same English
Would Be Filled. There Was Life In The Old Dog Yet! Tradition! And
Again Tradition! How Strong And How Elastic! Wars Might Rage, Taxation
Prey, Trades Unions Take Toll, And Europe Perish Of Starvation; But The
Ten Thousand Would Be Fed; And, Within Their Ring Fence, Stroll Upon
Green Turf, Wear Their Top Hats, And Meet--Themselves. The Heart Was
Sound, The Pulse Still Regular. E-Ton! E-Ton! Har-R-O-O-O-W!
Among The Many Forsytes Present, On A Hunting-Ground Theirs, By
Personal Prescriptive Right, Or Proxy, Was Soames, With His Wife And
Daughter. He Had Not Been At Either School, He Took No Interest In
Cricket, But He Wanted Fleur To Show Her Frock, And He Wanted To Wear
His Top Hat--Parade It Again In Peace And Plenty Among His Peers. He
Walked Sedately With Fleur Between Him And Annette. No Women Equalled
Them, So Far As He Could See. They Could Walk, And Hold Themselves Up;
There Was Substance In Their Good Looks; The Modern Woman Had No Build,
No Chest, No Anything! He Remembered Suddenly With What Intoxication Of
Pride He Had Walked Round With Irene In The First Years Of His First
Marriage. And How They Used To Lunch On The Drag Which His Mother Would
Make His Father Have, Because It Was So "Chic"--All Drags And Carriages
In Those Days, Not These Lumbering Great Stands! And How Consistently
Montague Dartie Had Drunk Too Much. He Supposed That People Drank Too
Much Still, But There Was Not The Scope For It There Used To Be. He
Remembered George Forsyte--Whose Brothers Roger And Eustace Had Been At
Harrow And Eton--Towering Up On The Top Of The Drag Waving A Light-Blue
Flag With One Hand And A Dark-Blue Flag With The Other, And Shouting:
"Etroow--Harrton!" Just When Everybody Was Silent, Like The Buffoon He
Had Always Been; And Eustace Got Up To The Nines Below, Too Dandified
To Wear Any Colour Or Take Any Notice. H'm! Old Days, And Irene In Grey
Silk Shot With Palest Green. He Looked, Sideways, At Fleur's Face.
Rather Colourless--No Light, No Eagerness! That Love Affair Was Preying
On Her--A Bad Business! He Looked Beyond, At His Wife's Face, Rather
More Touched Up Than Usual, A Little Disdainful--Not That She Had Any
Business To Disdain, So Far As He Could See. She Was Taking Profond's
Defection With Curious Quietude; Or Was His "Small" Voyage Just A
Blind? If So, He Should Refuse To See It! After Promenading Round The
Pitch And In Front Of The Pavilion, They Sought Winifred's Table In The
Bedouin Club Tent.
Part II XI (Timothy Prophesies) Pg 40This Club--A New "Cock And Hen"--Had Been Founded In
The Interests Of Travel, And Of A Gentleman With An Old Scottish Name,
Whose Father Had Somewhat Strangely Been Called Levi. Winifred Had
Joined, Not Because She Had Travelled, But Because Instinct Told Her
That A Club With Such A Name And Such A Founder Was Bound To Go Far; If
One Didn't Join At Once One Might Never Have The Chance. Its Tent, With
A Text From The Koran On An Orange Ground, And A Small Green Camel
Embroidered Over The Entrance, Was The Most Striking On The Ground.
Outside It They Found Jack Cardigan In A Dark-Blue Tie (He Had Once
Played For Harrow), Batting With A Malacca Cane To Show How That Fellow
Ought To Have Hit That Ball. He Piloted Them In. Assembled In
Winifred's Corner Were Imogen, Benedict With His Young Wife, Val Dartie
Without Holly, Maud And Her Husband, And, After Soames And His Two Were
Seated, One Empty Place.
"I'm Expecting Prosper," Said Winifred, "But He's So Busy With His
Yacht."
Soames Stole A Glance. No Movement In His Wife's Face! Whether That
Fellow Were Coming Or Not, She Evidently Knew All About It. It Did Not
Escape Him That Fleur, Too, Looked At Her Mother. If Annette Didn't
Respect His Feelings, She Might Think Of Fleur! The Conversation, Very
Desultory, Was Syncopated By Jack Cardigan Talking About "Mid-Off." He
Cited All The "Great Mid-Offs" From The Beginning Of Time, As If They
Had Been A Definite Racial Entity In The Composition Of The British
People. Soames Had Finished His Lobster, And Was Beginning On
Pigeon-Pie, When He Heard The Words: "I'm A Small Bit Late, Mrs.
Dartie," And Saw That There Was No Longer Any Empty Place. That Fellow
Was Sitting Between Annette And Imogen. Soames Ate Steadily On, With An
Occasional Word To Maud And Winifred. Conversation Buzzed Around Him.
He Heard The Voice Of Profond Say:
"I Think You're Mistaken, Mrs. Forsyde I'll--I'll Bet Miss Forsyde
Agrees With Me."
"In What?" Came Fleur's Clear Tones Across The Table.
"I Was Sayin', Young Gurls Are Much The Same As They Always
Were--There's Very Small Difference."
Part II XI (Timothy Prophesies) Pg 41"Do You Know So Much About Them?"
That Sharp Reply Caught The Ears Of All, And Soames Moved Uneasily On
His Thin Green Chair.
"Well, I Don't Know, I Think They Want Their Own Small Way, And I Think
They Always Did."
"Indeed!"
"Oh, But--Prosper," Winifred Interjected Comfortably, "The Girls In The
Streets--The Girls Who've Been In Munitions, The Little Flappers In The
Shops; Their Manners Now Really Quite Hit You In The Eye."
At The Word "Hit" Jack Cardigan Stopped His Disquisition; And In The
Silence Monsieur Profond Said:
"It Was Inside Before, Now It's Outside; That's All."
"But Their Morals!" Cried Imogen.
"Just As Moral As They Ever Were, Mrs. Cardigan, But They've Got More
Opportunity."
The Saying, So Cryptically Cynical, Received A Little Laugh From
Imogen, A Slight Opening Of Jack Cardigan's Mouth, And Another Creak
From Soames' Chair.
Winifred Said: "That's Too Bad, Prosper."
Part II XI (Timothy Prophesies) Pg 42"What Do You Say, Mrs. Forsyde; Don't You Think Human Nature's Always
The Same?"
Soames Subdued A Sudden Longing To Get Up And Kick The Fellow. He Heard
His Wife Reply:
"Human Nature Is Not The Same In England As Anywhere Else." That Was
Her Confounded Mockery!
"Well, I Don't Know Much About This Small Country"--'No, Thank God!'
Thought Soames--"But I Should Say The Pot Was Boilin' Under The Lid
Everywhere. We All Want Pleasure, And We Always Did."
Damn The Fellow! His Cynicism Was Outrageous!
When Lunch Was Over They Broke Up Into Couples For The Digestive
Promenade. Too Proud To Notice, Soames Knew Perfectly That Annette And
That Fellow Had Gone Prowling Round Together. Fleur Was With Val; She
Had Chosen Him, No Doubt, Because He Knew That Boy. He Himself Had
Winifred For Partner. They Walked In The Bright, Circling Stream, A
Little Flushed And Sated, Till Winifred Sighed:
"I Wish We Were Back Forty Years, Old Boy!"
Before The Eyes Of Her Spirit An Interminable Procession Of Her Own
"Lord's" Frocks Was Passing, Paid For With The Money Of Her Father, To
Save A Recurrent Crisis. "It's Been Very Amusing, After All. Sometimes
I Even Wish Monty Was Back. What Do You Think Of People Nowadays,
Soames?"
"Precious Little Style. The Thing Began To Go To Pieces With Bicycles
And Motor-Cars; The War Has Finished It."
Part II XI (Timothy Prophesies) Pg 43"I Wonder What's Coming?" Said Winifred In A Voice Dreamy From
Pigeon-Pie. "I'm Not At All Sure We Shan't Go Back To Crinolines And
Pegtops. Look At That Dress!" Soames Shook His Head.
"There's Money, But No Faith In Things. We Don't Lay By For The Future.
These Youngsters--It's All A Short Life And A Merry One With Them."
"There's A Hat!" Said Winifred. "I Don't Know--When You Come To Think
Of The People Killed And All That In The War, It's Rather Wonderful, I
Think. There's No Other Country--Prosper Says The Rest Are All
Bankrupt, Except America; And Of Course Her Men Always Took Their Style
In Dress From Us."
"Is Tha Chap," Said Soames, "Really Going To The South Seas?"
"Oh, One Never Knows Where Prosper's Going!"
"He's A Sign Of The Times," Muttered Soames, "If You Like."
Winifred's Hand Gripped His Arm.
"Don't Turn Your Head," She Said In A Low Voice, "But Look To Your
Right In The Front Row Of The Stand."
Soames Looked As Best He Could Under That Limitation. A Man In A Grey
Top Hat, Grey-Bearded, With Thin Brown, Folded Cheeks, And A Certain
Elegance Of Posture, Sat There With A Woman In A Lawn-Coloured Frock,
Whose Dark Eyes Were Fixed On Himself. Soames Looked Quickly At His
Feet. How Funnily Feet Moved, One After The Other Like That! Winifred's
Voice Said In His Ear:
"Jolyon Looks Very Ill, But He Always Had Style. She Doesn't
Change--Except Her Hair."
Part II XI (Timothy Prophesies) Pg 44
"Why Did You Tell Fleur About That Business?"
"I Didn't; She Picked It Up. I Always Knew She Would."
"Well, It's A Mess. She's Set Her Heart Upon Their Boy."
"The Little Wretch," Murmured Winifred. "She Tried
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