The Forsyte Saga John Galsworthy (hot novels to read TXT) đ
- Author: John Galsworthy
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âAnd Soames was with her?â said Aunt Hester, to whom Mrs. Small had as yet had no opportunity of relating the incident.
âSoames with her? Of course not!â
âBut was she all alone in London?â
âOh, no; there was Mr. Bosinney with her. She was perfectly dressed.â
But Swithin, hearing the name Irene, looked severely at Euphemia, who, it is true, never did look well in a dress, whatever she may have done on other occasions, and said:
âDressed like a lady, Iâve no doubt. Itâs a pleasure to see her.â
At this moment James and his daughters were announced. Dartie, feeling badly in want of a drink, had pleaded an appointment with his dentist, and, being put down at the Marble Arch, had got into a hansom, and was already seated in the window of his club in Piccadilly.
His wife, he told his cronies, had wanted to take him to pay some calls. It was not in his lineâ ânot exactly. Haw!
Hailing the waiter, he sent him out to the hall to see what had won the 4:30 race. He was dog-tired, he said, and that was a fact; had been drivinâ about with his wife to âshowsâ all the afternoon. Had put his foot down at last. A fellow must live his own life.
At this moment, glancing out of the bay windowâ âfor he loved this seat whence he could see everybody passâ âhis eye unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, chanced to light on the figure of Soames, who was mousing across the road from the Green Park-side, with the evident intention of coming in, for he, too, belonged to âThe Iseeum.â
Dartie sprang to his feet; grasping his glass, he muttered something about âthat 4:30 race,â and swiftly withdrew to the card-room, where Soames never came. Here, in complete isolation and a dim light, he lived his own life till half past seven, by which hour he knew Soames must certainly have left the club.
It would not do, as he kept repeating to himself whenever he felt the impulse to join the gossips in the bay-window getting too strong for himâ âit absolutely would not do, with finances as low as his, and the âold manâ (James) rusty ever since that business over the oil shares, which was no fault of his, to risk a row with Winifred.
If Soames were to see him in the club it would be sure to come round to her that he wasnât at the dentistâs at all. He never knew a family where things âcame roundâ so. Uneasily, amongst the green baize card-tables, a frown on his olive coloured face, his check trousers crossed, and patent-leather boots shining through the gloom, he sat biting his forefinger, and wondering where the deuce he was to get the money if Erotic failed to win the Lancashire Cup.
His thoughts turned gloomily to the Forsytes. What a set they were! There was no getting anything out of themâ âat least, it was a matter of extreme difficulty. They were so damned particular about money matters; not a sportsman amongst the lot, unless it were George. That fellow Soames, for instance, would have a fit if you tried to borrow a tenner from him, or, if he didnât have a fit, he looked at you with his cursed supercilious smile, as if you were a lost soul because you were in want of money.
And that wife of his (Dartieâs mouth watered involuntarily), he had tried to be on good terms with her, as one naturally would with any pretty sister-in-law, but he would be cursed if the (he mentally used a coarse word)â âwould have anything to say to himâ âshe looked at him, indeed, as if he were dirtâ âand yet she could go far enough, he wouldnât mind betting. He knew women; they werenât made with soft eyes and figures like that for nothing, as that fellow Soames would jolly soon find out, if there were anything in what he had heard about this Buccaneer Johnny.
Rising from his chair, Dartie took a turn across the room, ending in front of the looking-glass over the marble chimneypiece; and there he stood for a long time contemplating in the glass the reflection of his face. It had that look, peculiar to some men, of having been steeped in linseed oil, with its waxed dark moustaches and the little distinguished commencements of side whiskers; and concernedly he felt the promise of a pimple on the side of his slightly curved and fattish nose.
In the meantime old Jolyon had found the remaining chair in Timothyâs commodious drawing-room. His advent had obviously put a stop to the conversation, decided awkwardness having set in. Aunt Juley, with her well-known kindheartedness, hastened to set people at their ease again.
âYes, Jolyon,â she said, âwe were just saying that you havenât been here for a long time; but we mustnât be surprised. Youâre busy, of course? James was just saying what a busy time of year.â ââ âŠâ
âWas he?â said old Jolyon, looking hard at James. âIt wouldnât be half so busy if everybody minded their own business.â
James, brooding in a small chair from which his knees ran uphill, shifted his feet uneasily, and put one of them down on the cat, which had unwisely taken refuge from old Jolyon beside him.
âHere, youâve got a cat here,â he said in an injured voice, withdrawing his foot nervously as he felt it squeezing into the soft, furry body.
âSeveral,â said old Jolyon, looking at one face and another; âI trod on one just now.â
A silence followed.
Then Mrs. Small, twisting her fingers and gazing round with âpathetic calm,â asked: âAnd how is dear June?â
A twinkle of humour shot through the sternness of old Jolyonâs eyes. Extraordinary old woman, Juley! No one
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