The Forsyte Saga Volume 2(136)

‘N-no; I’m pretty sure I didn’t.’

‘Third lie!’ thought Mr Settlewhite: ‘not so well told.’

‘It makes a difference. Quite sure?’

‘Not quite.’

‘He says you did?’

‘Well, I told him he was a liar.’

‘Oh! did you? And they heard you?’

‘Rather!’

‘That may be important.’

‘I don’t believe he’ll say I called her a snob, in Court, anyway.’

‘That’s very shrewd, Miss Ferrar,’ said Mr Settlewhite. ‘I think we shall do.’

And with a final look at her from under his long lashes, he stalked, thin and contained, to the door.

Three days later Soames received a legal letter. It demanded a formal apology, and concluded with the words ‘failing it, action will be taken’. Twice in his life he had brought actions himself; once for breach of contract, once for divorce; and now to be sued for slander! In every case he had been the injured party, in his own opinion. He was certainly not going to apologize. Under the direct threat he felt much calmer. He had nothing to be ashamed of. He would call that ‘baggage’ a traitress to her face again to-morrow, and pay for the luxury, if need be. His mind roved back to when, in the early ’eighties, as a very young lawyer, he had handled his Uncle Swithin’s defence against a fellow member of the Walpole Club. Swithin had called him in public ‘a little touting whipper-snapper of a parson’. He remembered how he had whittled the charge down to the word ‘whipper-snapper’ by proving the plaintiff’s height to be five feet four, his profession the church, his habit the collection of money for the purpose of small-clothing the Fiji islanders. The jury had assessed ‘whipper-snapper’ at ten pounds – Soames always believed the small clothes had done it. His Counsel had made great game of them – Bobstay, Q.C. There were Counsel in those days; the Q.C.’s had been better than the K.C.’s were. Bobstay would have gone clean through this ‘baggage’ and come out on the other side. Uncle Swithin had asked him to dinner afterwards and given him York ham with Madeira sauce, and his special Heidsieck. He had never given anybody anything else. Well! There must still be cross-examiners who could tear a reputation to tatters, especially if there wasn’t one to tear. And one could always settle at the last moment if one wished. There was no possibility anyway of Fleur being dragged in as witness or anything of that sort.

He was thunder-struck, a week later, when Michael rang him up at Mapledurham to say that Fleur had been served with a writ for libel in letters containing among others the expression ‘a snake of the first water’ and ‘she hasn’t a moral about her.’

Soames went cold all over. ‘I told you not to let her go about abusing that woman.’

‘I know; but she doesn’t consult me every time she writes a letter to a friend.’

‘Pretty friend!’ said Soames into the mouthpiece. ‘This is a nice pair of shoes!’

‘Yes, sir; I’m very worried. She’s absolutely spoiling for a fight – won’t hear of an apology.’

Soames grunted so deeply that Michael’s ear tingled forty miles away.

‘In the meantime, what shall we do?’

‘Leave it to me,’ said Soames. ‘I’ll come up tonight. Has she any evidence to support those words?’

‘Well, she says –’

‘No,’ said Soames, abruptly, ‘don’t tell me over the phone.’ And he rang off. He went out on to the lawn. Women! Petted and spoiled – thought they could say what they liked! And so they could till they came up against another woman. He stopped by the boat-house and gazed at the river. The water was nice and clean, and there it was – flowing down to London to get all dirty! That feverish, quarrelsome business up there! Now he would have to set to and rake up all he could against this Ferrar woman, and frighten her off. It was distasteful. But nothing else for it, if Fleur was to be kept out of Court! Terribly petty. Society lawsuits – who ever got anything out of them, save heart-burning and degradation? Like the war, you might win and regret it ever afterwards, or lose and regret it more. All temper! Jealousy and temper!

In the quiet autumn light, with the savour of smoke in his nostrils from his gardener’s first leaf bonfire, Soames felt moral. Here was his son-in-law, wanting to do some useful work in Parliament, and make a name for the baby, and Fleur beginning to settle down and take a position; and now this had come along, and all the chatterers and busy mockers in Society would be gnashing on them with their teeth – if they had any! He looked at his shadow on the bank, grotesquely slanting towards the water as if wanting to drink. Everything was grotesque, if it came to that! In Society, England, Europe – shadows scrimmaging and sprawling, scuffling and posturing; the world just marking time before another Flood! H’m! He moved towards the river. There went his shadow, plunging in before him! They would all plunge into that mess of cold water if they didn’t stop their squabblings. And, turning abruptly, he entered his kitchen-garden. Nothing unreal there, and most things running to seed – stalks, and so on! How to set about raking up the past of this young woman? Where was it? These young sparks and fly-by-nights! They all had pasts, no doubt; but the definite, the concrete bit of immorality alone was of use, and when it came to the point, was unobtainable, he shouldn’t wonder. People didn’t like giving chapter and verse! It was risky, and not the thing! Tales out of school!