第23章

Soamesfrowned。”Well?””Shehasremainedfaithfultomemory。”Havingsaidthat，Jolyonwasashamed。Hiscousinhadflushedaduskyyellowishred。Whathadmadehimteasethepoorbrute！”Iwastotellyousheissorryyouarenotfree。Twelveyearsisalongtime。Youknowyourlaw，andwhatchanceitgivesyou。”

Soamesutteredacuriouslittlegrunt，andthetworemainedafullminutewithoutspeaking。’Likewax！’thoughtJolyon，watchingthatcloseface，wheretheflushwasfastsubsiding。’He’llnevergivemeasignofwhathe’sthinking，orgoingtodo。Likewax！’Andhetransferredhisgazetoaplanofthatflourishingtown，’By-

StreetonSea，’thefutureexistenceofwhichlayexposedonthewalltothepossessiveinstinctsofthefirm’sclients。Thewhim-

sicalthoughtflashedthroughhim：’IwonderifIshallgetabillofcostsforthis——”ToattendingMr。JolyonForsyteinthematterofmydivorce，toreceivinghisaccountofhisvisittomywife，andtoadvisinghimtogoandseeheragain，sixteenandeightpence。”’

SuddenlySoamessaid：”Ican’tgoonlikethis。Itellyou，I

can’tgoonlikethis。”Hiseyeswereshiftingfromsidetoside，likeananimal’swhenitlooksforwayofescape。’Hereallysuffers，’thoughtJolyon；’I’venobusinesstoforgetthat，justbecauseIdon’tlikehim。’”Surely，”hesaidgently，”itlieswithyourself。Amancanalwaysputthesethingsthroughifhe’lltakeitonhimself。”

Soamesturnedsquaretohim，withasoundwhichseemedtocomefromsomewhereverydeep。”WhyshouldIsuffermorethanI’vesufferedalready?WhyshouldI?”

Jolyoncouldonlyshrughisshoulders。Hisreasonagreed，hisinstinctrebelled；hecouldnothavesaidwhy。”Yourfather，”wentonSoames，”tookaninterestinher——why，goodnessknows！AndIsupposeyoudotoo?”hegaveJolyonasharplook。”Itseemstomethatoneonlyhastodoanotherpersonawrongtogetallthesympathy。Idon’tknowinwhatwayIwastoblameI’veneverknown。Ialwaystreatedherwell。Igavehereverythingshecouldwishfor。Iwantedher。”

AgainJolyon’sreasonnodded；againhisinstinctshookitshead。

’Whatisit?’hethought；’theremustbesomethingwronginme。

Yetifthereis，I’dratherbewrongthanright。’”Afterall，”saidSoameswithasortofglumfierceness，”shewasmywife。”

Inaflashthethoughtwentthroughhislistener：’Thereitis！

Ownerships！Well，weallownthings。But——humanbeings！Pah！’”Youhavetolookatfacts，”hesaiddrily，”orratherthewantofthem。”

Soamesgavehimanotherquicksuspiciouslook。”Thewantofthem?”hesaid。”Yes，butIamnotsosure。””Ibegyourpardon，”repliedJolyon；”I’vetoldyouwhatshesaid。

Itwasexplicit。””Myexperiencehasnotbeenonetopromoteblindconfidenceinherword。Weshallsee。”

Jolyongotup。”Good-bye，”hesaidcurtly。”Good-bye，”returnedSoames；andJolyonwentouttryingtounderstandthelook，half-startle

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