The Forsyte Saga - Volume 1

The daughter of a Bedfordshire solicitor, by the daughter of a

clergyman, she had never, through all the painful experience of being

married to a very mild painter with a cranky love of Nature, who had

deserted her for an actress, lost touch with the requirements, beliefs,

and inner feeling of Society; and, on attaining her liberty, she placed

herself without effort in the very van of Forsyteism.

Always in good spirits, and 'full of information,' she was universally

welcomed. She excited neither surprise nor disapprobation when

encountered on the Rhine or at Zermatt, either alone, or travelling with

a lady and two gentlemen; it was felt that she was perfectly capable of

taking care of herself; and the hearts of all Forsytes warmed to that

wonderful instinct, which enabled her to enjoy everything without giving

anything away. It was generally felt that to such women as Mrs. MacAnder

should we look for the perpetuation and increase of our best type of

woman. She had never had any children.

If there was one thing more than another that she could not stand it was

one of those soft women with what men called 'charm' about them, and for

Mrs. Soames she always had an especial dislike.

Obscurely, no doubt, she felt that if charm were once admitted as

the criterion, smartness and capability must go to the wall; and she

hated--with a hatred the deeper that at times this so-called charm

seemed to disturb all calculations--the subtle seductiveness which she

could not altogether overlook in Irene.

She said, however, that she could see nothing in the woman--there was no

'go' about her--she would never be able to stand up for herself--anyone

could take advantage of her, that was plain--she could not see in fact

what men found to admire!

She was not really ill-natured, but, in maintaining her position after

the trying circumstances of her married life, she had found it so

necessary to be 'full of information,' that the idea of holding her

tongue about 'those two' in the Park never occurred to her.

And it so happened that she was dining that very evening at Timothy's,

where she went sometimes to 'cheer the old things up,' as she was wont

to put it. The same people were always asked to meet her: Winifred

Dartie and her husband; Francie, because she belonged to the artistic

circles, for Mrs. MacAnder was known to contribute articles on dress

to 'The Ladies Kingdom Come'; and for her to flirt with, provided they

could be obtained, two of the Hayman boys, who, though they never said

anything, were believed to be fast and thoroughly intimate with all that

was latest in smart Society.