The Forsyte Saga - Volume 1

Seeing both surprise and suspicion in James' eye, he quickly went on: "I

don't want to know anything; I suppose Irene's put her foot down--it's

not material to me. But I'm thinking of a house in the country myself,

not too far from London, and if it suited me I don't say that I mightn't

look at it, at a price."

James listened to this statement with a strange mixture of doubt,

suspicion, and relief, merging into a dread of something behind, and

tinged with the remains of his old undoubted reliance upon his elder

brother's good faith and judgment. There was anxiety, too, as to what

old Jolyon could have heard and how he had heard it; and a sort of

hopefulness arising from the thought that if June's connection with

Bosinney were completely at an end, her grandfather would hardly seem

anxious to help the young fellow. Altogether he was puzzled; as he did

not like either to show this, or to commit himself in any way, he said:

"They tell me you're altering your Will in favour of your son."

He had not been told this; he had merely added the fact of having seen

old Jolyon with his son and grandchildren to the fact that he had taken

his Will away from Forsyte, Bustard and Forsyte. The shot went home.

"Who told you that?" asked old Jolyon.

"I'm sure I don't know," said James; "I can't remember names--I know

somebody told me Soames spent a lot of money on this house; he's not

likely to part with it except at a good price."

"Well," said old Jolyon, "if, he thinks I'm going to pay a fancy price,

he's mistaken. I've not got the money to throw away that he seems to

have. Let him try and sell it at a forced sale, and see what he'll get.

It's not every man's house, I hear!"

James, who was secretly also of this opinion, answered: "It's a

gentleman's house. Soames is here now if you'd like to see him."

"No," said old Jolyon, "I haven't got as far as that; and I'm not likely

to, I can see that very well if I'm met in this manner!"

James was a little cowed; when it came to the actual figures of a

commercial transaction he was sure of himself, for then he was dealing

with facts, not with men; but preliminary negotiations such as these

made him nervous--he never knew quite how far he could go.

"Well," he said, "I know nothing about it. Soames, he tells me nothing;

I should think he'd entertain it--it's a question of price."