第49章

’He’snotthesame，’shethought。Hewouldneverbequitethesameagain！Butwhatwouldhebe?”Allright！”hesaid，andwenttowardsthedoor。Heevenmoveddifferently，likeamanwhohaslostillusionanddoubtswhetheritisworthwhiletomoveatall。

Whenhewasgone，andsheheardthewaterinthebathrunning，sheputoutacompletesetofgarmentsonthebedinhisdressing-room，thenwentdownstairsandfetchedupthebiscuitboxandwhisky。

Puttingonhercoatagain，andlisteningamomentatthebathroomdoor，shewentdownandout。Inthestreetshehesitated。Pastseveno’clock！WouldSoamesbeathisCluboratParkLane?Sheturnedtowardsthelatter。Back！

Soameshadalwaysfearedit——shehadsometimeshopedit……Back！

Solikehim——clownthathewas——withthis：’Hereweareagain！’tomakefoolsofthemall——oftheLaw，ofSoames，ofherself！

YettohavedonewiththeLaw，nottohavethatmurkycloudhangingoverherandthechildren！Whatarelief！Ah！buthowtoaccepthisreturn?That’woman’hadravagedhim，takenfromhimpassionsuchashehadneverbestowedonherself，suchasshehadnotthoughthimcapableof。Therewasthesting！Thatselfish，blatant’clown’ofhers，whomsheherselfhadneverreallystirred，hadbeensweptandungarnishedbyanotherwoman！Insulting！Tooinsulting！Notright，notdecenttotakehimback！Andyetshehadaskedforhim；theLawperhapswouldmakehernow！Hewasasmuchherhusbandasever——shehadputherselfoutofcourt！Andallhewanted，nodoubt，wasmoney——tokeephimincigarsandlavender-water！Thatscent！’Afterall，I’mnotold，’shethought，’notoldyet！’Butthatwomanwhohadreducedhimtothosewords：’I’vebeenthroughit。I’vebeenfrightened——

frightened，Freddie！’Shenearedherfather’shouse，driventhiswayandthat，whileallthetimetheForsyteundertowwasdrawinghertodeepconclusionthatafterallhewasherproperty，tobeheldagainstarobbingworld。AndsoshecametoJames’。”Mr。Soames?Inhisroom?I’llgoup；don’tsayI’mhere。”

Herbrotherwasdressing。Shefoundhimbeforeamirror，tyingablackbowwithanairofdespisingitsends。”Hullo！”hesaid，contemplatingherintheglass；”what’swrong?””Monty！”saidWinifredstonily。

Soamesspunround。”What！””Back！””Hoist，”mutteredSoames，”withourownpetard。Whythedeucedidn’tyouletmetrycruelty?Ialwaysknewitwastoomuchriskthisway。””Oh！Don’ttalkaboutthat！WhatshallIdo?”

Soamesanswered，withadeep，deepsound。”Well?”saidWinifredimpatiently。”Whathashetosayforhimself?””Nothing。Oneofhisbootsissplitacrossthetoe。”

Soamesstaredather。”Ah！”hesaid，”ofcourse！Onhisbeamends。So——itbeginsagain！

This’llaboutfinishfather。””Can’twekeepitfromhim?””Impossible。Hehasanuncannyflairforanythingthat’sworrying。”

Andhebrooded，withfingershooked

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