The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy (hot novels to read TXT) đ
- Author: John Galsworthy
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âWhy! Of all wondersâ âJune!â
There, in a djibbahâ âwhat things she wore!â âwith her hair straying from under a fillet, Soames saw his cousin, and Fleur going forward to greet her. The two passed from their view out on to the stairway.
âReally,â said Winifred, âshe does the most impossible things! Fancy her coming!â
âWhat made you ask her?â muttered Soames.
âBecause I thought she wouldnât accept, of course.â
Winifred had forgotten that behind conduct lies the main trend of character; or, in other words, omitted to remember that Fleur was now a lame duck.
On receiving her invitation, June had first thought, âI wouldnât go near them for the world!â and then, one morning, had awakened from a dream of Fleur waving to her from a boat with a wild unhappy gesture. And she had changed her mind.
When Fleur came forward and said to her, âDo come up while Iâm changing my dress,â she had followed up the stairs. The girl led the way into Imogenâs old bedroom, set ready for her toilet.
June sat down on the bed, thin and upright, like a little spirit in the sear and yellow. Fleur locked the door.
The girl stood before her divested of her wedding dress. What a pretty thing she was!
âI suppose you think me a fool,â she said, with quivering lips, âwhen it was to have been Jon. But what does it matter? Michael wants me, and I donât care. Itâll get me away from home.â Diving her hand into the frills on her breast, she brought out a letter. âJon wrote me this.â
June read: âLake Okanagen, British Columbia. Iâm not coming back to England. Bless you always. Jon.â
âSheâs made safe, you see,â said Fleur.
June handed back the letter.
âThatâs not fair to Irene,â she said, âshe always told Jon he could do as he wished.â
Fleur smiled bitterly. âTell me, didnât she spoil your life too?â June looked up. âNobody can spoil a life, my dear. Thatâs nonsense. Things happen, but we bob up.â
With a sort of terror she saw the girl sink on her knees and bury her face in the djibbah. A strangled sob mounted to Juneâs ears.
âItâs all rightâ âall right,â she murmured, âDonât! There, there!â
But the point of the girlâs chin was pressed ever closer into her thigh, and the sound was dreadful of her sobbing.
Well, well! It had to come. She would feel better afterward! June stroked the short hair of that shapely head; and all the scattered mother-sense in her focused itself and passed through the tips of her fingers into the girlâs brain.
âDonât sit down under it, my dear,â she said at last. âWe canât control life, but we can fight it. Make the best of things. Iâve had to. I held on, like you; and I cried, as youâre crying now. And look at me!â
Fleur raised her head; a sob merged suddenly into a little choked laugh. In truth it was a thin and rather wild and wasted spirit she was looking at, but it had brave eyes.
âAll right!â she said. âIâm sorry. I shall forget him, I suppose, if I fly fast and far enough.â
And, scrambling to her feet, she went over to the washstand.
June watched her removing with cold water the traces of emotion. Save for a little becoming pinkness there was nothing left when she stood before the mirror. June got off the bed and took a pincushion in her hand. To put two pins into the wrong places was all the vent she found for sympathy.
âGive me a kiss,â she said when Fleur was ready, and dug her chin into the girlâs warm cheek.
âI want a whiff,â said Fleur; âdonât wait.â
June left her, sitting on the bed with a cigarette between her lips and her eyes half closed, and went downstairs. In the doorway of the drawing-room stood Soames as if unquiet at his daughterâs tardiness. June tossed her head and passed down on to the half-landing. Her cousin Francie was standing there.
âLook!â said June, pointing with her chin at Soames. âThat manâs fatal!â
âHow do you mean,â said Francie, âfatal?â
June did not answer her. âI shanât wait to see them off,â she said. âGoodbye!â
âGoodbye!â said Francie, and her eyes, of a Celtic grey, goggled. That old feud! Really, it was quite romantic!
Soames, moving to the well of the staircase, saw June go, and drew a breath of satisfaction. Why didnât Fleur come? They would miss their train. That train would bear her away from him, yet he could not help fidgeting at the thought that they would lose it. And then she did come, running down in her tan-coloured frock and black velvet cap, and passed him into the drawing-room. He saw her kiss her mother, her aunt, Valâs wife, Imogen, and then come forth, quick and pretty as ever. How would she treat him at this last moment of her girlhood? He couldnât hope for much!
Her lips pressed the middle of his cheek.
âDaddy!â she said, and was past and gone! Daddy! She hadnât called him that for years. He drew a long breath and followed slowly down. There was all the folly with that confetti stuff and the rest of it to go through with yet. But he would like just to
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