The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy (hot novels to read TXT) đ
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- Author: John Galsworthy
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Between him and the four other brothers who were present, James, Swithin, Nicholas, and Roger, there was much difference, much similarity. In turn, each of these four brothers was very different from the other, yet they, too, were alike.
Through the varying features and expression of those five faces could be marked a certain steadfastness of chin, underlying surface distinctions, marking a racial stamp, too prehistoric to trace, too remote and permanent to discussâ âthe very hallmark and guarantee of the family fortunes.
Among the younger generation, in the tall, bull-like George, in pallid strenuous Archibald, in young Nicholas with his sweet and tentative obstinacy, in the grave and foppishly determined Eustace, there was this same stampâ âless meaningful perhaps, but unmistakableâ âa sign of something ineradicable in the family soul. At one time or another during the afternoon, all these faces, so dissimilar and so alike, had worn an expression of distrust, the object of which was undoubtedly the man whose acquaintance they were thus assembled to make. Philip Bosinney was known to be a young man without fortune, but Forsyte girls had become engaged to such before, and had actually married them. It was not altogether for this reason, therefore, that the minds of the Forsytes misgave them. They could not have explained the origin of a misgiving obscured by the mist of family gossip. A story was undoubtedly told that he had paid his duty call to Aunts Ann, Juley, and Hester, in a soft grey hatâ âa soft grey hat, not even a new oneâ âa dusty thing with a shapeless crown. âSo, extraordinary, my dearâ âso odd,â Aunt Hester, passing through the little, dark hall (she was rather shortsighted), had tried to shoo it off a chair, taking it for a strange, disreputable catâ âTommy had such disgraceful friends! She was disturbed when it did not move.
Like an artist forever seeking to discover the significant trifle which embodies the whole character of a scene, or place, or person, so those unconscious artistsâ âthe Forsytes had fastened by intuition on this hat; it was their significant trifle, the detail in which was embedded the meaning of the whole matter; for each had asked himself: âCome, now, should I have paid that visit in that hat?â and each had answered âNo!â and some, with more imagination than others, had added: âIt would never have come into my head!â
George, on hearing the story, grinned. The hat had obviously been worn as a practical joke! He himself was a connoisseur of such. âVery haughty!â he said, âthe wild Buccaneer.â
And this mot, the âBuccaneer,â was bandied from mouth to mouth, till it became the favourite mode of alluding to Bosinney.
Her aunts reproached June afterwards about the hat.
âWe donât think you ought to let him, dear!â they had said.
June had answered in her imperious brisk way, like the little embodiment of will she was: âOh! what does it matter? Phil never knows what heâs got on!â
No one had credited an answer so outrageous. A man not to know what he had on? No, no! What indeed was this young man, who, in becoming engaged to June, old Jolyonâs acknowledged heiress, had done so well for himself? He was an architect, not in itself a sufficient reason for wearing such a hat. None of the Forsytes happened to be architects, but one of them knew two architects who would never have worn such a hat upon a call of ceremony in the London season.
Dangerousâ âah, dangerous! June, of course, had not seen this, but, though not yet nineteen, she was notorious. Had she not said to Mrs. Soamesâ âwho was always so beautifully dressedâ âthat feathers were vulgar? Mrs. Soames had actually given up wearing feathers, so dreadfully downright was dear June!
These misgivings, this disapproval, and perfectly genuine distrust, did not prevent the Forsytes from gathering to old Jolyonâs invitation. An âat homeâ at Stanhope Gate was a great rarity; none had been held for twelve years, not indeed, since old Mrs. Jolyon had died.
Never had there been so full an assembly, for, mysteriously united in spite of all their differences, they had taken arms against a common peril. Like cattle when a dog comes into the field, they stood head to head and shoulder to shoulder, prepared to run upon and trample the invader to death. They had come, too, no doubt, to get some notion of what sort of presents they would ultimately be expected to give; for though the question of wedding gifts was usually graduated in this way: âWhat are you givinâ? Nicholas is givinâ spoons!ââ âso very much depended on the bridegroom. If he were sleek, well-brushed, prosperous-looking, it was more necessary to give him nice things; he would expect them. In the end each gave exactly what was right and proper, by a species of family adjustment arrived at as prices are arrived at on the Stock Exchangeâ âthe exact niceties being regulated at Timothyâs commodious, redbrick residence in Bayswater, overlooking the Park, where dwelt Aunts Ann, Juley, and Hester.
The uneasiness of the Forsyte family has been justified by the simple mention of the hat. How impossible and wrong would it have been for any family, with the regard for appearances which should ever characterize the great upper-middle class, to feel otherwise than uneasy!
The author of the uneasiness stood talking to
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