"Love is an emotion that most Forsytes disapprove of, unless they happen to fall in love." "Even then, if they can, they get over it pretty quickly, not being able to reconcile with their principles the extravagance involved." "But these two young Forsytes had got it badly, as they say nowadays, and having got it, it was their property." "Woe betide anyone who tried to deprive them of it." "Well, mr." "Forsyte, what you going to do with this small lot?" "Oh, Profond, you told me you collect paintings." "Well, I've bought a few, myself." "What do you think of these two?" "The real one, I like." "This one, charming, but not good, I think." "Now this one is rather fine, I think." "Do you want to sell it?" "Huh?" " Yes." "What do you want for it, mr." "Forsyte?" "What I gave for it." "All right." "I'll be glad to take that small picture." "Not that I care much for pictures." "How much, please?" "Five hundred pounds." "What do you care for?" "Oh, I don't know." "We human beings, we're like a lot of monkeys, scrambling after empty nuts, but I don't worry." "We're born and we die." "Half the world's starving." "I feed a small lot of babies out in my mother's country, but what's the use?" "Might as well throw my money in the river." "Well, what's the point?" "Why spend your money on pictures?" "I don't want you to have it if you don't care for it." "Oh, that's all right, mr." "Forsyte." "I'll be happy to have that picture." "The english are awful funny about pictures, hm?" "So are my people." "They're all awful funny." "I don't understand you." "It's like hats, small or large, turning up or down, just the fashion." "Awful funny." "Ah, you're a cynic." "I hope so." "Aren't you?" "That's a fashion too." "I don't believe in it." "Soames, mr." "Mont is here to see you." "Who?" " Ah, yes, come in." "Hello, sir." "Hello." "And may I introduce monsieur Profond?" "How do you do?" "Prosper, would you care for a walk before tea?" "Very much." "So long as it's a small walk." "Excuse me." "Well, sir." "Some pictures." "I say... hm?" " Isn't that your..." "My daughter?" " Yes." "No, it's a copy of a Goya from the Prado in Madrid, called La vendimia, but I'm told there's a resemblance." "It's very like her." "Is she here, sir?" " She'll be in after tea." "Shall we look at the rest of the pictures?" "This is a maris, James Maris." "Yes, I know." "Didn't he just paint and paper them?" "Of course, Matthew was the real swell." "You could really dig into his surfaces." "Ah, here's old whistler." "They say his stuff won't last, you know." "Commercially?" "Oh, lord, no.Organically." "Well, he painted on black, you see, and sooner or later, it'll all come through." "I should sell him off, sir,quick." "What are you, mr." "Mont, if I may ask?" "A painter?" "No, I was going to be, but the war put a stop to that." "Then, in the trenches, I used to dream of the stock exchange, snug and warm, and just noisy enough," "but shares have gone phut, haven't they?" "Napoo." "What do you recommend, sir?" " Got any money?" "Well, I've got a father." "I kept him alive during the war, so he's bound to keep me now." "He's a baronet, with land." "The combination adds up to a fatal disease." "I keep telling him he ought to die of it, but he won't." "Then there's the question, should he be allowed to hang on to his property?" "Should I, when I inherit?" "What do you think, sir?" "This is a mauve." "So it is." "Good old haystacks." "So there we were, all square coming to the 18th," "Mackenzie hit a screamer down the middle." "Mackenzie?" "The chap I was playing, the pro." "The scot." "All professionals are scot, I believe." "Not at all, mama." "Ever hear of Vardon?" "Still very fit and there's an american chap, what's-his-name?" "Hagen?" "Yes, that's it." "However, as i was saying," "Mackenzie's on the fairway, 200 yards from the green." "I'm off to the left, hooked my drive, you see?" "Thickish rough, but not a bad lie, so I took my baffy... you took your what, dear?" "Baffy." "It's a kind of spoon." "Oh, spoon..." "risky, but it came off." "Bang." "The ball's on the green, 10 feet from the pin." "Games, mrs." "Cardigan." "Your husband talks a lot about them." "He talks of nothing else, and when he's not talking about them, he's playing them." "But Imogen, why?" " To keep fit, of course." "Jack's probably the fittest man in England." "Dear me." "Are you fit, Prosper?" "When, wham!" "I rammed home the putt fora birdie, and that was that." "Aw, so you lost after all... no, damn it, mama, I won!" "I beat the pro." "Oh, well done, dear." "Yes." "Hooray." "Thanks." "Look here, who's for a set of tennis after tea?" "What about you, Profond?" " Do you good,you know." "Keep you fit." "What's the use of keeping fit?" " A good question." "What do you keep fit for?" " Yes, Jack." "What do you keep fit for?" " Well, I mean to say... don't let them..." "ah, mr." "Mont." "Come in and meet our family." "This is my sister-in-law, mrs." "Dartie." "Did I hear a car just draw up?" "Miss Fleur is walking up from the station." "Walking, but it'S..." "very well, go." "I say, miss Forsyte." "Who are you?" " Michael Mont." "Oh, it's all right." "I've been having tea with your people." "I hope you enjoyed it.Goodbye. No, wait." "I can'T." "I'm late now." "But you must... well, why do you think i came here today?" "You were hungry and thirsty?" "Oh, splendid." "A girl with wit." "Your father invited me to see his pictures." "My father did?" "He must be losing his grip." "But much as I like pictures, I really only came to see you." "So you've seen me, and now may I go in?" "But if you do, I shan't see you again today." "Mr. Mont, I'm late and tired and enough is enough." "For you, perhaps." "All right, but I shall be back soon." "Thanks for the warning." "So long, F.F. So long, M.M." "Tomorrow, Annette." "I shall stroll in the garden, and think of tomorrow." "You've come back at last." "Is that all from a bad parent?" " Why did you stay away so long, making me anxious about you?" "Darling, it was very harmless." "How do you know what's harmless and what isn't?" "Well, then, suppose you tell me, and be quite frank about it." "You're my only comfort, and yet you go on like this." "Like what?" "You know what i told you." "I don't choose to have anything to do with that branch of the family." "Yes, but I don't see why I shouldn't." "I'm not going to give you any reasons." "You know my wishes, and yet you stayed on for four days because of that boy." "I suppose he came back with you today." "I don't want to know anything." "I'm not going to pry, but Fleur, you ought to trust me." "Look, supposing... suppose I promise not to see him for, say, the next six weeks?" "Six weeks." "Six years. 60 years." "Now, don't delude yourself, Fleur." "Don't delude yourself!" "Daddy, what is it?" "What is it?" "Don't tell me there's anything other than just caprice between you." "I couldn't bear it." "Good heavens, no." "Caprice, of course." "But I like my caprices, and I don't like yours." "Caprices." "Ah, what a small fuss, as monsieur Profond would say." "Father, I don't like that man." "Why not?" "No reason." "Caprice, perhaps." "No, you're quite right." "It's not caprice." "I don't like him, either." "I shan't let him have my Gauguin." "What Winifred and Imogen see in him, I don't know." "Or mother." "Your mother's got..." "Fleur, you changed the subject." "I meant to." "I don't like to see you upsetting yourself over nothing." "I mean it, it's nothing." "Now, I'll stick to my promise, so cheer up." "Well, goodbye, dad." "Goodbye, Jon." "Take care of your mother." "Enjoy yourself." "Goodbye, son." "Goodbye, dearest, now don't forget to ask June down if you're lonely." "Oh, June, with you not here, she'll look upon me as one of her lame ducks." "She'll be down." "My darling... take care." "Goodbye." "This is Kingston 49." "Will you get me Richmond 87, please?" "Yes, eight-seven." "Thank you." "Hello?" "Dr. Dewar." "Forsyte here." "How are you?" " Yes, it's a long time since we've had a game of chess together." "Yes." "What about coming over tonight, have a spot of dinner, hm?" "Good, splendid." "Oh, about 7:00." "Yes." "Now, bring your bag of tricks with you, will you, doc?" "Oh, no, nothing serious, just a short attack this morning before breakfast, but you did tell me to let you know." "Oh, no." "No, they've gone." "Of course they've gone." "No, they're not to be told." "Yes." "All right." "Oh, that's fine." "See you tonight, then." "Bye, doc." "Just in case." "Now, father, give me your hat, and I'll ring for tea." "You must tell me exactly what that old idiot sir Humphrey said to you." "Exactly the same as dr." "Dewar, but in slightly more pompous language." "You see, now if only you'd listen to me, and go to Pondridge." "Pondridge?" "I told you, the faith healer." "Fine person." "No, thank you, june." "For my age, I'm a perfectly healthy man." "Only one thing wrong with me, and that's a weak heart, and no amount of faith will ever heal that, my dear.Such prejudice." "That's just what's keeping Pondridge back." "He can't make two ends meet, but if only people... ah, now I understand." "You're trying to kill two birds with one stone." "Cure, you mean." "Somehow I wish I'd never mentioned my ailment." "You didn't." "I got it out of you." "No wine with your dinner." "No Port, no cigar." "A little rest after luncheon." "Father, dear, I'm not a fool." "That you are not." "Does Irene know?" " No." "And she's not to be told." "I wonder if that's wise." "Ah, Trudi." "Tea, please, and bring some lemon for mr." "Forsyte." "Thank you, Trudi." "Thank you very much." "Great heavens above." "What was that?" "Trudi?" "An austrian refugee." "What happened to the belgian refugees?" " I got them a better place." "More money than I could afford." "But Trudi..." "June." "Yes, father?" "I don't like asking people to do things, but I want to make this quite clear." "You are not to mention this matter of my illness." "Not to Irene, not to anyone." "Very well, but I think people should face up to things." "Anyway, how do you imagine you'll keep it dark, if you're going to change all your habits?" "Ah, now, there I thought you might help me." "I?" "How?" " Among your more modern friends, isn't there some prophet of the simple life?" "One of these non-smoking, non-drinking, non-anything consumers of lime juice, who do nothing all day but contemplate their navels?" "Yes, as a matter of fact." "Ram Hummergee." "But how did you know about him?" "Well, there had to be." "From now on, I'm his disciple." "I want you to spread it around..." "discreetly,of course, that I'm a total convert to mr... what did you say his name was?" " Hummergee." "Mr. Hummergee's gospel of nothingness." "Agreed?" "It won't work." "Irene's far too perceptive." "Yes." "Yes, my dear June." "I'm afraid you're right." "What's all this about Jon and Soames' girl?" "Who told you that?" "I met Winifred." "She knows all about that unfortunate meeting at wansdon." "And don't forget, I saw that little monkey drop her handkerchief on purpose." "Are you going to tell Jon?" "Tell him what, June?" " About Irene and Soames,of course." "We decided not to." "Oh, you mean Irene did." "Isn't that why she's taken him off to spain?" "Well, I think he ought to be told." "He's old enough to know the facts and make up his own mind." "Anyway, he'll find out someday." "Yes, I'm afraid he will." "If it were left to you, you'd tell him." "I might." "Then why don't you?" " I won't go against Irene's instinct." "Oh, that's very feeble of you." "Yes, perhaps, but forgive me, my dear june." "It really is none of your business." "Certainly, it is." "He's my half-brother, isn't he?" "I'll go and take my hat off." "Help yourself to tea when it comes." "Hello." "How do you do?" "I'm a cousin of your father'S." "Yes." "I saw you in that art gallery." "Is your father in?" " He won't be very long, if you'd like to wait." "Your name is Fleur,isn't it?" " Yes." "What do you think of Jon?" "He's quite a nice boy." "Not a bit like Holly or me, is he?" "Not a bit." "I do wish you'd tell me why our families don't get on." "You know, the surest way to make people find out the worst is to keep them ignorant." "I quite agree." "My father said it was a quarrel over property." "I don't believe it, of course." "They wouldn't have been so bourgeois." "My grandfather was a very generous man, and so is my father." "Neither of them was in the least bit bourgeois." "No, thank you." "What was it, then?" " Why do you want to know?" "Only because they won't tell me." "Well, it was about property, but there's more than one kind." "That makes it worse." "Now you really must tell me." "Is there anything between you and Jon?" "Because if there is, I think you'd better drop it." "If there were, that isn't the way to make me." "I like you, Fleur." "I don't like your father." "I never have." "We may as well be frank." "Is that what you came to tell him?" "No." "I came down to see you." "How charming of you." "I'm a lot older than you, but I do sympathize." "It's horrid not to have your own way." "I really think you might tell me." "It's not my secret, but I'll see what I can do, because I think both you and jon ought to be told." "Look...next time you're in London, come and see me." "That's where I live." "I generally have young people in the evenings, but I shouldn't tell your father you're coming." "Now I'll say goodbye." "Goodbye." "You'll be late for dinner if you don't hurry and change." "It won't take me a tick." "I was out with Michael oh, not on that confounded motorcycle." "No, dear." "That's for flappers." "Didn't I hear the telephone?" "Yes, it was mother." "She's stopping in town until tomorrow." "She is, is she?" "Dining and going to the theater with Imogen, she said." "Father, who do you think came to see you today whilst you were out?" "Guess." "I never guess." "Your cousin, June Forsyte." "What did she want?" "I don't know, but it was rather breaking through the family feud, wasn't it?" "Feud?" "What feud?" " The one that exists in your imagination." "I suppose she wanted me to buy a picture." "Or perhaps it was just family affection." "She's only a first cousin,once removed." "And the daughter of your enemy." "Why do you say a thing like that?" "Sorry,I thought he was." "Enemy... ancient history." "As you say." "I can't think what makes you say things like that." "Cousin June." "What?" "Well, if you know all about it, why plague me?" "oh, darling, I don't want to plague you." "As you say, it's ancient history,and who cares?" "I must get a handkerchief." "I'll fetch you one." "No, father, no." "I disagree entirely." "You've forgotten what it's like to be young, and you don't understand the new age." "Well, that may be, but... why should it matter so terribly if Jon learns the truth about his mother?" " Who pays any attention to that sort of thing nowadays?" "The marriage laws are just as they were 20 years ago but we've moved on far beyond them." "Who cares now whether irene broke those laws?" "Well, you're missing the point entirely." "This is a matter of human feeling." "Exactly." "The human feelings of those two youngsters." "My dear girl, you're talking utter nonsense." "No, I'm not." "If they're really in love, they'll be happy." "She won't care about what happened years ago, so let the dead past bury its dead." "Some things can never be buried." "I could understand it if Fleur had been Philip Bosinney's daughter." "Now, that, you might resent." "Irene loved him, but she never loved soames." "Well, that just shows how little you understand." "Jon,if I know him, wouldn't mind a love past." "I never have." "But the brutality of a union without love..." "June, this girl's father once owned Jon's mother." "Owned her, just as surely as if she'd been a negro slave." "You can't lay that ghost, so don't try to." "You're asking us to see our son married to the flesh and blood of a man who once possessed Irene against her will, who raped her pitilessly when she resisted." "Father, I... no, I will not mince words." "I want it clear, once and for all." "Oh, now I've gone and got myself all worked up." "Father, I'm sorry." "It's all right, little one." "It's my fault." "A glass of water,please." "Of course." "Two weeks... two weeks before she's back." "So, as I say, sir, it's only our boat club ball at maidenhead, but we do ourselves pretty well." "We have a band down from London, that sort of thing." "I think Fleur will enjoy i hope so." "it's good of you to let me take her, sir." "Not at all." "Are you sure you won't join us, sir?" "No, thank you." "Yes, what is it, Coaker?" "Miss Fleur asked me to say she'll be down in a minute, sir, and these letters came by in the afternoon post." "I don't think you've seen them." "I'm glad to have five minutes alone with you, sir." "The fact is, sir, I want to talk about Fleur." "Oh?" " I'm so fearfully gone on her, sir." "I thought you'd better know." "That's very good of you." "It's a bit old-fashioned, of course, going to fathers first, but, well, I've seen my own governor." "What did sir lawrence say?" "Frankly, sir, he astonished me." "Matter of fact, he rather cottons to the idea." "He rather cottons?" "Yes." "Do you, sir?" "When you've been through the war, you can't help being in a hurry." "To get married and then get unmarried afterwards?" "Not from Fleur." "Imagine, sir, if you were me." "Fleur's too young." "No, sir." "We're all awfully old nowadays." "You may think you are." "My advice to you is to go away and forget about it." "Oh, lord, no, sir." "I can't do that." "If I don't keep hanging around, I haven't got a dog's chance, and to show you I mean business, I've got a job." "Well, glad to hear it." "Yes, I've joined a publisher." "My governor's putting up the stakes." "Let me say this to you." "I don't dislike you." "Good, I hope." "But Fleur means everything to me." "Well, I know that, sir, but so she does to me." "Yes, I dare say." "It will rest with her in the end, I know that." "Then I hope it will rest with her for a very long time." "You aren't very cheering, sir." "No." "No, my experience of life has not made me anxious to couple people in a hurry." "I'm glad you told me." "I shall say nothing to Fleur." "Hello, M.M. Haven't I been quick?" "Oh, don't wait up, father." "Probably be fearfully late." "Don't wear yourself out." "How are you going?" "Michael's father lent us the car." "Don't drive too fast." "Never do, sir." ""Cautious cuthbert", they call me." "Come on, Michael." "Don't make those horrible jokes." "Nerves, pure nerves." "Good night, sir." ""Cautious cuthbert."" "They've gone?" "Fleur came to say good night." "Somehow, this evening," "I couldn't be bothered with Michael." "A nice boy, but how he chatters." "I've had this." "Obviously written by someone with a spite against foreigners." "It's anonymous." "Well?" "Dirty." "Yes, I agree, degrading, but is it true?" "What if it is?" "You admit it?" "I admit nothing." "It's foolish of you to ask, and dangerous." "Do you remember what you were when I married you?" "Do you remember that I was not half your age?" "I'm not going to argue with you." "I demand that you stop this liaison at once." "I think of the matter entirely as it affects Fleur." "Oh, yes, naturally." "Will you do as I say?" "I refuse to tell you." "Then I shall have to..." "I must make you." "No, Soames." "You're helpless." "So don't do things you may regret." "There shall be no more letters, I promise you." "That is enough." "You know, when two people live like we do, it is better for them to be quiet about each other." "Now, you are old, but I am not, not yet." "You don't want people to laugh at you, do you?" "You see?" "You have made me practical." "You are... a bad woman." "I think not." "Oh, living with you has not improved me, I admit, but I am not a bad woman, only sensible,as you will be when you think about it." "I shall see this man and warn him off." "Soames, you make me laugh." "You have as much of me as you want, which is very little, and you want the rest of me to be dead." "Well, I'm not going to be dead at my age." "Now, myself, I shall make no scandal, and I advise you to be quiet also." "Now, that is all I have to say to you." "Now I observe that you do want me a little." "Yes?" "Well then, I suggest you come back in 10 minutes." "Ah, there you are,my love." "Feel fresher now?" "Thank you, darling , a lovely bath after a dusty journey." "Come and sit down." "I'll ring for some tea." "Jo..." "you look tired and thinner." "Have you not been well?" "Oh, certainly,I've been well." "If I'm thinner, I could do with it, and as for being tired, well..." "I've grown weary waiting for you." "Now tell me,how did it go?" "Oh, I loved Spain, and Jon was very sweet to me." "He liked everything he saw and he learned a lot, I think." "Good." "Also, he fell in love... what?" "With a Goya picture in the Prado at Madrid." "It's called "La vendimia"." "Jon bought a colored postcard of it and carried it everywhere." "Yes, I remember it." "I saw it when I was there in '92." "I always hoped Jon would take to Goya, but why that particular one?" "I can only guess, but the girl in it has a distinct resemblance to Fleur Forsyte." "He'd take it out, you know, and look at it when he thought i wouldn't notice." "It was strange, darling." "Six weeks away together, and we talked of everything under the sun, except..." "Except what was uppermost in both your minds." "So the cure was a failure." "I don't know, but I fear so." "By the way, where is he?" "Hello?" "Hello, Fleur?" " Is that you, Fleur?" "Yes, Jon, here I am." "Are you speaking from home?" "No, the post office." "Clever, Jon, but I'm at home, so we must be quick." "All right, but...do you love me?" " I'll tell you tomorrow." "Tomorrow?" "Can you make some excuse to go to London?" "I'll meet you there." "I'll manage it somehow." "Where, the talisman club?" " Yes, stratton street, 2:00." "Goodbye, Jon." "Goodbye." "Oh, Jon." "Thank you." "Oh, yes, thank you." "Golly, the female athenaeum." "Do you really belong here?" " Convenient, isn't it?" "I asked you on the telephone." "I know." "Indiscreet." "Oh, I don't care." "Has anybody cut in?" "Well, there is this young idiot, but he doesn't count." "Well then, Fleur... yes, Jon, I do." "Very much." "Oh, Jon, don't look at me like that." "Not here." "Now, listen, I've found something out." "What, about the feud?" "Yes." "I believe my father wanted to marry your mother, and your father got her instead." "And, well, if my father was in love with her, that would make him pretty mad, don't you think?" "Not if she loved my father best." "But suppose they were engaged?" "If we were engaged, and you found you loved someone better," "I might go crackers, but I shouldn't bear a grudge." "Oh, I should, Jon." "You must never do that to me." "Oh, how could I?" "Excuse me." "Thank you." "Isn't there anywhere in this blasted town where we can be alone?" "No, but I've had an idea." "I'm staying the night with aunt Winifred." "Are you going to Robin hill?" "Yes." "Well, suppose we take the train together." "You could show me the house." "I shouldn't come up, of course." "That would be splendid." "We'll walk as far as the copse." "I'll be back in time for dinner." "I'd love to see where you live, Jon." "Come on, then." "Sorry." "Milking time." "The farmyard's up there, beyond the copse." "Farmer Jon." "Could I see it?" "I didn't know you were interested in cows." "Well, you are, aren't you?" "Yes." "Well, then I am." "Where's the house?" " Up there." "If we go through we can see the gardens and the house beyond." "Well, then let's go that way." "The cows can wait." "I want to know everything there is to know about you." "Well, Jon?" "And Fleur, isn't it?" "Yes." "How do you do?" "It was nice of Jon to bring you down to see us." "We weren't coming to the house." "I just wanted Fleur to see where I live." "Of course, dear." "Won't you come up and have some tea?" "Oh, thanks awfully, but I have to get back to London." "Jon and I met by accident." "I'd heard about Robin hill, so I made him bring me down." "I'm glad you did." "Now do come." "We'll send you back to the station directly after tea." "My husband will enjoy meeting you." "Jon tells me you've been in Spain." "Did you enjoy it?" "Very much." "Such a dramatic country, but the people, some of them, dreadfully poor, and nobody seems to care." "Yes, well, at least they've got the sunshine." "Well, as i was saying, june persuaded me to buy this gallery." "Genius flourishes there, she says, and some day,it must pay its way." "When all the geese are recognized as swans." "I'm afraid I'm one of the back numbers." "I can't appreciate the new stuff." "Surely you can if it's good." "But what is good?" "You and jon must tell us." "Well, it's supposed to be satirical, isn't it?" "Oh, but it must be more than that." "What do you think, Jon?" "I don't know at all." "No, you're right, Irene." "It's more than satire." "These young people are tired of us, our gods and our ideals." "Smash down our idols." "Off with our heads." "Let's get back to nothing." "Jon writes poetry, did you know?" "No?" "No doubt you'll join him and the others in stamping on what's left of us." "Property." "Beauty." "Sentiment." "All smoke." "One mustn't own anything nowadays, not even one's feelings." "They stand in the way of good old nothing." "It isn't true." "I don't want to stamp on anything." "No?" "Well, what is true, Jon?" "Well, I think we only want to live, and we don't know how because of the past." "Ah, the past." "Old ownerships." "Old passions and their aftermath." "Yes." "I'm sounding like a garrulous old man." "Give me a cigarette, Jon." "I'll puff smoke with the best of you." "Well, I think i ought to be going." "It's been awfully jolly to meet you both." "It was good of you to come, and very thoughtful of jon to bring you." "Yes, well, Jon, see fleur to the car." "Goodbye." "My regards to your aunt Winifred." "Yes, thank you." "You know, it's awfully silly..." "I don't know what to call you." "Would cousin Jolyon do?" "Yes, I should think it might." "Goodbye." "Darling, that wasn't like you." "I know, I know." "Intolerance." "I was angry on your behalf." "He shouldn't have brought her here without letting you know." "What do you think of her?" "She's everything jon said of her." "Quick." "Clever." "Attractive." "I agree." "And other things he doesn't dream of." "Selfish." "Calculating." "Determined." "Possessive, like her father before her." "She'll get him if she can." "Jo... oh, darling, what we are to do?" "What we should have done three months ago." "No... sooner or later, we must tell him." "He goes back to Holly's on Saturday." "Wait till the next time he come, and then, Jo...if you still feel that he must be told, we'll tell him together." "Oh, there you are, Fleur." "Prosper was just asking after you." "That was kind of him." "I'm awful pleased to see you again, miss Forsyte." "Hell amuse him for me, there's a love." "Imogen's youngest has the mumps." "I must go and ring her up." ""Ring her up."" "Extraordinary expression." "Aunt Ann wouldn't have approved at all." "Help yourself to sherry, darlings." "I didn't get that small picture i bought from your father." "Is he well?" "I was saying today i want to see him have some pleasure." "He worries." "You think so?" "Shall I tell you what would give him pleasure?" "Is there something i can do for you?" "Yes." "Pass by on the other side." "You dislike me." "Do I?" " I think so." "Why?" "Because you make me feel life isn't worth living." "Don't worry, miss Forsyte." "Things don't last." "For me, they do, especially likes and dislikes." "That makes me a small bit unhappy." "You surprise me." "Oh, yes." "I do not like to annoy people." "I'm going on my yacht." "Oh?" " Where?" "Small voyage to the south seas or somewhere." "So... not to worry." "When are you leaving?" "Three, four weeks." "Whenever the yacht's ready." "Perhaps you will tell your father, yes?" "I was hearing at the club about his old trouble." "What do you mean?" "Before you were born, that small trouble he had." "Tell me what you heard." "Why, you know all that." "I do, but I'd like to make sure you haven't got it wrong." "Oh, no, I don't think so." "Mr. George Forsyte told me..." "about your father's first wife." "Of course, what about her?" "Well... how they were divorced, and she married his cousin, Jolyon, afterwards." "It was a small bit unpleasant, I should think." "I met their boy with mr." "Val Dartie." "Nice young fellow." "Well, miss Forsyte, I must be going now." "Excuse me, please, to your aunt." "Good night, miss Forsyte." "Oh, has Prosper gone?" "He's so amusing, don't you think?" "Fleur?" " Fleur, dear..." "is something wrong?" "He told me that father was married before, to Jon's mother." "Is it true?" "Your father didn't wish you to hear, though why, I can't imagine." "Those things do happen." "We've forgotten it all years ago." "Tell me about it." "Darling, are you sure?" "Yes, please." "Please." "Oh, Fleur, dear." "It's so long now,I hardly remember." "Irene and your father never really got on." "There was a young man, an architect...that house." "What?" "Yes, he built Robin hill for your father." "But the poor boy was run over and killed." "Jo's father, old Jolyon, bought the house, and Jo went to live there with his family." "Irene ran away from your father." "Years later, she met Jo again, and there was a divorce." "I see." "And that's all there is to it." "Not so very terrible." "And it's all worked out for the best." "Has it?" "Has it?" "Haven't you left out all that matters?" "I don't understand." "All the feelings." "The bitterness, the hatred that exists between Jon's family and mine." "You make the whole thing sound like an old-fashioned minuet." "Thank you for telling me." "Impossible to believe in such a treatment, not even in America, where I starved for my art." "A barbarous country without principles, without traditions, without taste, without a soul." "So I pack my bags and baggages." "I shake its filthy dust from my bruised feet, and I come here to England." "And what happens?" "I'll tell you." "You are housed and fed and looked after." "I commission paintings, I promise you a show at my gallery... ah!" "That is deadly word,"promise."" "All is promises, but where is performances?" "That serpent, Paul Post, and that goat, Vospovitch, they have a show, but I, Boris Strumolowski, I have no show." "I told you, in six weeks' time... six weeks!" "In six weeks, the rich americans will all be home in their revolting New York." "Well, that ought to suit you, since you despise them so much." "There speaks England, the most selfish country in the world." "The country of greedy philistines, bloodsuckers, the destroyers of real people." "Irishman." "Hindus." "Boers." "Egyptians." "The exploiters of subject race and all artists!" "tradesmen." "Hypocrites." "Profiteers." "I spit on England." "Then why did you come?" "We didn't ask you." "Are there any cigarettes?" "England, the grave of idealists." "You come and sponge on us, and then you shout abuse." "If you think that's playing the game..." "game?" "What game?" "One does not sponge." "One takes what is owing." "A tenth part of what is owing." "You will repent to say that." "Not a bit of it." "We know very well,we artists." "You take all and give nothing." "So I want nothing!" "Nothing from you." "Very well." "You may pack your things and leave at once." "As I expected." "Typical." "But I can live on nothing." "Often I had to, for the sake of art." "It is you, bourgeois like you, that force us to spend money." "And you!" "You poor, starving immigrant from Europe, exploited and beaten down by the english." "But your day will come." "Your day will come." "Never mind, Trudi." "Never mind." "There you are, Fleur." "So you remembered to come." "Yes." "What a wild young man." "Is he always like that?" " No." "He's a child, really." "Very talented." "Oh, I'm afraid I lost my temper just now." "Good for you." "Will he be back?" " Oh, yes." "The poor boy has nothing." "But not yet.It'll take him an hour or two to simmer down." "Are these his?" "Yes." "Golly." "Have you come about Jon?" "Yes." "You said we ought to be told." "Well, I've found out." "Oh... not nice, is it?" "Not very." "What are you going to do?" " Could you possibly... could I see Jon tomorrow?" "Here, on his way down to Wansdon?" "I'd have to telephone Robin hill... you could write him a note." "I'd post it for you." "He'll get it in the morning." "Yes." "All right, I'll do that." "My father wouldn't agree, but I think you're right not to be affected by old, forgotten things." "I shouldn't have taken it lying down, I can tell you." "You'll have a bad time with your own father, but he'll come around in time." "I dare say, you can do pretty much as you like with him." "There." "2:30 tomorrow." "I shan't be in." "Fleur, when you tell Jon?" "I don't intend to tell him." "What?" " I don't want jon to suffer." "He'll have to be told." "I must just see him once more." "Writing would be too cruel." "You mean you're not in love with Jon?" "People will assume that I'm in love with him." "But I'm not." "Not now, anyway." "So I shall see him tomorrow and put an end to the whole thing."