The Forsyte Saga - Volume 1

Young Chankery began nervously; he was placed by Bosinney's absence in

an awkward position. He therefore did his best to turn that absence to

account.

He could not but fear--he said--that his client had met with an

accident. He had fully expected him there to give evidence; they had

sent round that morning both to Mr. Bosinney's office and to his rooms

(though he knew they were one and the same, he thought it was as

well not to say so), but it was not known where he was, and this he

considered to be ominous, knowing how anxious Mr. Bosinney had been to

give his evidence. He had not, however, been instructed to apply for an

adjournment, and in default of such instruction he conceived it his duty

to go on. The plea on which he somewhat confidently relied, and which

his client, had he not unfortunately been prevented in some way from

attending, would have supported by his evidence, was that such an

expression as a 'free hand' could not be limited, fettered, and rendered

unmeaning, by any verbiage which might follow it. He would go further

and say that the correspondence showed that whatever he might have said

in his evidence, Mr. Forsyte had in fact never contemplated repudiating

liability on any of the work ordered or executed by his architect. The

defendant had certainly never contemplated such a contingency, or, as

was demonstrated by his letters, he would never have proceeded with

the work--a work of extreme delicacy, carried out with great care and

efficiency, to meet and satisfy the fastidious taste of a connoisseur, a

rich man, a man of property. He felt strongly on this point, and feeling

strongly he used, perhaps, rather strong words when he said that this

action was of a most unjustifiable, unexpected, indeed--unprecedented

character. If his Lordship had had the opportunity that he himself had

made it his duty to take, to go over this very fine house and see the

great delicacy and beauty of the decorations executed by his client--an

artist in his most honourable profession--he felt convinced that not for

one moment would his Lordship tolerate this, he would use no stronger

word than daring attempt to evade legitimate responsibility.

Taking the text of Soames' letters, he lightly touched on 'Boileau v.

The Blasted Cement Company, Limited.' "It is doubtful," he said, "what

that authority has decided; in any case I would submit that it is just

as much in my favour as in my friend's." He then argued the 'nice

point' closely. With all due deference he submitted that Mr. Forsyte's

expression nullified itself. His client not being a rich man, the matter

was a serious one for him; he was a very talented architect, whose

professional reputation was undoubtedly somewhat at stake. He concluded

with a perhaps too personal appeal to the Judge, as a lover of the arts,

to show himself the protector of artists, from what was occasionally--he

said occasionally--the too iron hand of capital. "What," he said, "will

be the position of the artistic professions, if men of property like

this Mr. Forsyte refuse, and are allowed to refuse, to carry out the

obligations of the commissions which they have given." He would now call

his client, in case he should at the last moment have found himself able

to be present.