But it was Mrs. Soames' eyes that worried Euphemia. She never once

looked at Mr. Bosinney until he moved on, and then she looked after him.

And, oh, that look!

On that look Euphemia had spent much anxious thought. It is not too much

to say that it had hurt her with its dark, lingering softness, for

all the world as though the woman wanted to drag him back, and unsay

something she had been saying.

Ah, well, she had had no time to go deeply into the matter just

then, with that prunella silk on her hands; but she was 'very

intriguee'--very! She had just nodded to Mrs. Soames, to show her that

she had seen; and, as she confided, in talking it over afterwards, to

her chum Francie (Roger's daughter), "Didn't she look caught out

just?..."

James, most averse at the first blush to accepting any news confirmatory

of his own poignant suspicions, took her up at once.

"Oh" he said, "they'd be after wall-papers no doubt."

Euphemia smiled. "In the Groceries?" she said softly; and, taking

'Passion and Paregoric' from the table, added: "And so you'll lend me

this, dear Auntie? Good-bye!" and went away.

James left almost immediately after; he was late as it was.

When he reached the office of Forsyte, Bustard and Forsyte, he found

Soames, sitting in his revolving, chair, drawing up a defence. The

latter greeted his father with a curt good-morning, and, taking an

envelope from his pocket, said:

"It may interest you to look through this."

James read as follows:

'309D, SLOANE STREET, May 15,

'DEAR FORSYTE,

'The construction of your house being now completed, my duties as

architect have come to an end. If I am to go on with the business of

decoration, which at your request I undertook, I should like you to

clearly understand that I must have a free hand.

'You never come down without suggesting something that goes counter to

my scheme. I have here three letters from you, each of which recommends

an article I should never dream of putting in. I had your father here

yesterday afternoon, who made further valuable suggestions.

'Please make up your mind, therefore, whether you want me to decorate

for you, or to retire which on the whole I should prefer to do.

'But understand that, if I decorate, I decorate alone, without

interference of any sort.

If I do the thing, I will do it thoroughly, but I must have a free hand.

'Yours truly,

'PHILIP BOSINNEY.'

The exact and immediate cause of this letter cannot, of course, be told,

though it is not improbable that Bosinney may have been moved by some

sudden revolt against his position towards Soames--that eternal position

of Art towards Property--which is so admirably summed up, on the back of

the most indispensable of modern appliances, in a sentence comparable to

the very finest in Tacitus:




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