THOS. T. SORROW, Inventor. BERT M. PADLAND, Proprietor.

"What are you going to say to him?" James asked.

Soames did not even turn his head. "I haven't made up my mind," he said,

and went on with his defence.

A client of his, having put some buildings on a piece of ground that

did not belong to him, had been suddenly and most irritatingly warned

to take them off again. After carefully going into the facts, however,

Soames had seen his way to advise that his client had what was known as

a title by possession, and that, though undoubtedly the ground did not

belong to him, he was entitled to keep it, and had better do so; and

he was now following up this advice by taking steps to--as the sailors

say--'make it so.'

He had a distinct reputation for sound advice; people saying of him: "Go

to young Forsyte--a long-headed fellow!" and he prized this reputation

highly.

His natural taciturnity was in his favour; nothing could be more

calculated to give people, especially people with property (Soames had

no other clients), the impression that he was a safe man. And he was

safe. Tradition, habit, education, inherited aptitude, native

caution, all joined to form a solid professional honesty, superior to

temptation--from the very fact that it was built on an innate avoidance

of risk. How could he fall, when his soul abhorred circumstances which

render a fall possible--a man cannot fall off the floor!

And those countless Forsytes, who, in the course of innumerable

transactions concerned with property of all sorts (from wives to water

rights), had occasion for the services of a safe man, found it

both reposeful and profitable to confide in Soames. That slight

superciliousness of his, combined with an air of mousing amongst

precedents, was in his favour too--a man would not be supercilious

unless he knew!

He was really at the head of the business, for though James still came

nearly every day to, see for himself, he did little now but sit in his

chair, twist his legs, slightly confuse things already decided, and

presently go away again, and the other partner, Bustard, was a poor

thing, who did a great deal of work, but whose opinion was never taken.

So Soames went steadily on with his defence. Yet it would be idle to say

that his mind was at ease. He was suffering from a sense of impending

trouble, that had haunted him for some time past. He tried to think it

physical--a condition of his liver--but knew that it was not.

He looked at his watch. In a quarter of an hour he was due at the

General Meeting of the New Colliery Company--one of Uncle Jolyon's

concerns; he should see Uncle Jolyon there, and say something to him

about Bosinney--he had not made up his mind what, but something--in any

case he should not answer this letter until he had seen Uncle Jolyon. He

got up and methodically put away the draft of his defence. Going into

a dark little cupboard, he turned up the light, washed his hands with a

piece of brown Windsor soap, and dried them on a roller towel. Then he

brushed his hair, paying strict attention to the parting, turned down

the light, took his hat, and saying he would be back at half-past two,

stepped into the Poultry.




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