The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy (hot novels to read TXT) đ
- Author: John Galsworthy
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âWell, young man! Iâm here for my daughter; it rests with you, it seemsâ âthis matter. Your mother leaves it in your hands.â
The boy continued staring at his motherâs face, and made no answer.
âFor my daughterâs sake Iâve brought myself to come,â said Soames. âWhat am I to say to her when I go back?â
Still looking at his mother, the boy said, quietly:
âTell Fleur that itâs no good, please; I must do as my father wished before he died.â
âJon!â
âItâs all right, Mother.â
In a kind of stupefaction Soames looked from one to the other; then, taking up hat and umbrella which he had put down on a chair, he walked toward the curtains. The boy stood aside for him to go by. He passed through and heard the grate of the rings as the curtains were drawn behind him. The sound liberated something in his chest.
âSo thatâs that!â he thought, and passed out of the front door.
VIII The Dark TuneAs Soames walked away from the house at Robin Hill the sun broke through the grey of that chill afternoon, in smoky radiance. So absorbed in landscape painting that he seldom looked seriously for effects of Nature out of doorsâ âhe was struck by that moody effulgenceâ âit mourned with a triumph suited to his own feeling. Victory in defeat. His embassy had come to naught. But he was rid of those people, had regained his daughter at the expense ofâ âher happiness. What would Fleur say to him? Would she believe he had done his best? And under that sunlight faring on the elms, hazels, hollies of the lane and those unexploited fields, Soames felt dread. She would be terribly upset! He must appeal to her pride. That boy had given her up, declared part and lot with the woman who so long ago had given her father up! Soames clenched his hands. Given him up, and why? What had been wrong with him? And once more he felt the malaise of one who contemplates himself as seen by anotherâ âlike a dog who chances on his refection in a mirror and is intrigued and anxious at the unseizable thing.
Not in a hurry to get home, he dined in town at the Connoisseurs. While eating a pear it suddenly occurred to him that, if he had not gone down to Robin Hill, the boy might not have so decided. He remembered the expression on his face while his mother was refusing the hand he had held out. A strange, an awkward thought! Had Fleur cooked her own goose by trying to make too sure?
He reached home at half-past nine. While the car was passing in at one drive gate he heard the grinding sputter of a motorcycle passing out by the other. Young Mont, no doubt, so Fleur had not been lonely. But he went in with a sinking heart. In the cream-panelled drawing-room she was sitting with her elbows on her knees, and her chin on her clasped hands, in front of a white camellia plant which filled the fireplace. That glance at her before she saw him renewed his dread. What was she seeing among those white camellias?
âWell, Father!â
Soames shook his head. His tongue failed him. This was murderous work! He saw her eyes dilate, her lips quivering.
âWhat? What? Quick, Father!â
âMy dear,â said Soames, âIâ âI did my best, butâ ââ And again he shook his head.
Fleur ran to him, and put a hand on each of his shoulders.
âShe?â
âNo,â muttered Soames; âhe. I was to tell you that it was no use; he must do what his father wished before he died.â He caught her by the waist. âCome, child, donât let them hurt you. Theyâre not worth your little finger.â
Fleur tore herself from his grasp.
âYou didnât youâ âcouldnât have tried. Youâ âyou betrayed me, Father!â
Bitterly wounded, Soames gazed at her passionate figure writhing there in front of him.
âYou didnât tryâ âyou didnâtâ âI was a fool! I wonât believe he couldâ âhe ever could! Only yesterday heâ â! Oh! why did I ask you?â
âYes,â said Soames, quietly, âwhy did you? I swallowed my feelings; I did my best for you, against my judgmentâ âand this is my reward. Good night!â
With every nerve in his body twitching he went toward the door.
Fleur darted after him.
âHe gives me up? You mean that? Father!â
Soames turned and forced himself to answer:
âYes.â
âOh!â cried Fleur. âWhat did youâ âwhat could you have done in those old days?â
The breathless sense of really monstrous injustice cut the power of speech in Soamesâ throat. What had he done! What had they done to him!
And with quite unconscious dignity he put his hand on his breast, and looked at her.
âItâs a shame!â cried Fleur passionately.
Soames went out. He mounted, slow and icy, to his picture gallery, and paced among his treasures. Outrageous! Oh! Outrageous! She was spoiled! Ah! and who had spoiled her? He stood still before the Goya copy. Accustomed to her own way in everything. Flower of his life! And now that she couldnât have it! He turned to the window for some air. Daylight was dying, the moon rising, gold behind the poplars! What sound was that? Why! That piano thing! A dark tune, with a thrum and a throb! She had set it goingâ âwhat comfort could she get from that? His eyes caught movement down there beyond the lawn, under the trellis of rambler roses and young acacia-trees, where the moonlight fell. There she was, roaming up and down. His heart gave a little sickening jump. What would she do under this blow? How could he tell? What did he know of herâ âhe had only loved her all his lifeâ âlooked on her as the apple of his eye! He knew nothingâ âhad no notion. There she wasâ âand that dark tuneâ âand the river gleaming in the moonlight!
âI must go out,â he thought.
He hastened down to the drawing-room, lighted just as he had left it, with the piano thrumming out that waltz, or foxtrot, or whatever they called it in these days, and passed through on to the
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