London had already begun to disgorge its workers as he neared Putney

Bridge; the ant-heap was on the move outwards. What a lot of ants, all

with a living to get, holding on by their eyelids in the great scramble!

Perhaps for the first time in his life Soames thought: 'I could let go

if I liked! Nothing could touch me; I could snap my fingers, live as I

wished--enjoy myself!' No! One could not live as he had and just drop

it all--settle down in Capua, to spend the money and reputation he had

made. A man's life was what he possessed and sought to possess. Only

fools thought otherwise--fools, and socialists, and libertines!

The cab was passing villas now, going a great pace. 'Fifteen miles an

hour, I should think!' he mused; 'this'll take people out of town to

live!' and he thought of its bearing on the portions of London owned by

his father--he himself had never taken to that form of investment, the

gambler in him having all the outlet needed in his pictures. And the cab

sped on, down the hill past Wimbledon Common. This interview! Surely a

man of fifty-two with grown-up children, and hung on the line, would not

be reckless. 'He won't want to disgrace the family,' he thought; 'he

was as fond of his father as I am of mine, and they were brothers. That

woman brings destruction--what is it in her? I've never known.' The

cab branched off, along the side of a wood, and he heard a late cuckoo

calling, almost the first he had heard that year. He was now almost

opposite the site he had originally chosen for his house, and which

had been so unceremoniously rejected by Bosinney in favour of his own

choice. He began passing his handkerchief over his face and hands,

taking deep breaths to give him steadiness. 'Keep one's head,' he

thought, 'keep one's head!'

The cab turned in at the drive which might have been his own, and the

sound of music met him. He had forgotten the fellow's daughters.

"I may be out again directly," he said to the driver, "or I may be kept

some time"; and he rang the bell.

Following the maid through the curtains into the inner hall, he felt

relieved that the impact of this meeting would be broken by June or

Holly, whichever was playing in there, so that with complete surprise

he saw Irene at the piano, and Jolyon sitting in an armchair listening.

They both stood up. Blood surged into Soames' brain, and all his

resolution to be guided by this or that left him utterly. The look of

his farmer forbears--dogged Forsytes down by the sea, from 'Superior

Dosset' back--grinned out of his face.




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