Добавил:
ivanov666
Опубликованный материал нарушает ваши авторские права? Сообщите нам.
Вуз:
Предмет:
Файл:Сага о Форсайтах. В петле. Книга для чтения на английском языке
.pdf
Chapter II
SOAMES PUTS IT TO THE TOUCH
Of all those radiant firms which emblazon with
their windows the West End of London, Gaves and
Cortegal were considered by Soames the most ‘at
tractive’ — word just coming into fashion. He had
never had his Uncle Swithin’s taste in precious
stones, and the abandonment by Irene when she
left his house in 1887 of all the glittering things
he had given her had disgusted him with this form
of investment. But he still knew a diamond when
he saw one, and during the week before her birth
day he had taken occasion, on his way into the
Poultry or his way out therefrom, to dally a little
before the greater jewellers where one got, if not
one’s money’s worth, at least a certain cachet with
the goods.
Constant cogitation since his drive with Jolyon
had convinced him more and more of the supreme im
portance of this moment in his life, the supreme need
for taking steps and those not wrong. And, alongside
the dry and reasoned sense that it was now or never
with his selfpreservation, now or never if he were to
range himself and found a family, went the secret urge
of his senses roused by the sight of her who had once
been a passionately desired wife, and the conviction
that it was a sin against common sense and the decent
secrecy of Forsytes to waste the wife he had.
PART II
181
In an opinion on Winifred’s case, Dreamer,
1
— he would much have preferred Water
Q.C.
buck, but they had made him a judge (so late in
the day as to rouse the usual suspicion of a polit
ical job) — had advised that they should go forward
IN CHANCERY
and obtain restitution of conjugal rights, a point
which to Soames had never been in doubt. When
they had obtained a decree to that effect they must
wait to see if it was obeyed. If not, it would con
stitute legal desertion, and they should obtain ev
idence of misconduct and file their petition for di
vorce. All of which Soames knew perfectly well.
2
They had marked him ten and one.
This simplic
ity in his sister’s case only made him the more des
perate about the difficulty in his own. Everything,
in fact, was driving him towards the simple solu
tion of Irene’s return. If it were still against the
grain with her, had he not feelings to subdue, in
jury to forgive, pain to forget? He at least had never
injured her, and this was a world of compromise!
He could offer her so much more than she had now.
He would be prepared to make a liberal settle
ment on her which could not be upset. He often
scrutinised his image in these days. He had never
1
Q.C. — сокр. от Queen’s Council — почетный титул
адвоката
2
They had marked him ten and one. — (зд.) Они счита
ли его выдающимся юристом. (выражение, которым пользу
ются на скачках при заключении пари)
182
been a peacock like that fellow Dartie, or fancied
himself a woman’s man, but he had a certain be
lief in his own appearance — not unjustly, for it
was wellcoupled and preserved, neat, healthy,
pale, unblemished by drink or excess of any kind.
The Forsyte jaw and the concentration of his face
were, in his eyes, virtues. So far as he could tell
there was no feature of him which need inspire
dislike.
Thoughts and yearnings, with which one lives
daily, become natural, even if farfetched in their
inception. If he could only give tangible proof
enough of his determination to let bygones be by
gones, and to do all in his power to please her, why
should she not come back to him?
He entered Gaves and Cortegal’s therefore, on
the morning of November the 9th, to buy a cer
tain diamond brooch. “Four twentyfive and dirt
cheap, sir, at the money. It’s a lady’s brooch.”
There was that in his mood which made him ac
cept without demur. And he went on into the
Poultry with the flat green morocco case in his
breast pocket. Several times that day he opened it
to look at the seven soft shining stones in their
velvet oval nest.
“If the lady doesn’t like it, sir, happy to exchange
it any time. But there’s no fear of that.” If only there
were not! He got through a vast amount of work,
only soother of the nerves he knew. A cablegram
PART II
183
came while he was in the office with details from
the agent in Buenos Aires, and the name and ad
dress of a stewardess who would be prepared to
swear to what was necessary. It was a timely spur
to Soames, with his rooted distaste for the wash
IN CHANCERY
ing of dirty linen in public. And when he set forth
by Underground to Victoria Station he received a
fresh impetus towards the renewal of his married
life from the account in his evening paper of a fash
ionable divorce suit. The homing instinct of all true
Forsytes in anxiety and trouble, the corporate ten
dency which kept them strong and solid, made him
choose to dine at Park Lane. He neither could nor
would breath a word to his people of his intention —
too reticent and proud — but the thought that at
least they would be glad if they knew, and wish him
luck, was heartening.
James was in lugubrious mood, for the fire which
the impudence of Kruger’s ultimatum had lit in him
had been coldwatered by the poor success of the last
month, and the exhortations to effort in The Times. He
didn’t know where it would end. Soames sought to
cheer him by the continual use of the word Buller
But James couldn’t tell! There was Colley — and he
got stuck on that hill, and this Ladysmith was down
1
.
1
Buller — Редверс Буллер, английский генерал, ко
мандующий войсками во время англобурской войны 1899–
1902 гг.
184
in a hollow, and altogether it looked to him a ‘pretty
kettle of fish’; he thought they ought to be sending
the sailors — they were the chaps, they did a lot
of good in the Crimea. Soames shifted the ground
of consolation. Winifred had heard from Val that
there had been a ‘rag’ and a bonfire on Guy Fawkes
1
at Oxford, and that he had escaped detection
Day
by blacking his face.
“Ah!” James muttered, “he’s a clever little chap.”
But he shook his head shortly afterwards and re
marked that he didn’t know what would become of
him, and looking wistfully at his son, murmured on
that Soames had never had a boy. He would have
liked a grandson of his own name. And now — well,
there it was!
Soames flinched. He had not expected such a
challenge to disclose the secret in his heart. And
Emily, who saw him wince, said: “Nonsense, James;
don’t talk like that!”
But James, not looking anyone in the face, mut
tered on. There were Roger and Nicholas and Joly
on; they all had grandsons. And Swithin and Tim
othy had never married. He had done his best; but
he would soon be gone now. And, as though he had
uttered words of profound consolation, he was silent,
PART II
1
Guy Fawkes Day — 5 ноября, отмечается англичана
ми сожжением чучела Гая Фокса в память о «Пороховом
заговоре» 1605 г.
185
eating brains with a fork and a piece of bread, and
swallowing the bread.
Soames excused himself directly after dinner. It
was not really cold, but he put on his fur coat, which
served to fortify him against the fits of nervous shiv
IN CHANCERY
ering to which he had been subject all day. Subcon
sciously, he knew that he looked better thus than in
an ordinary black overcoat. Then, feeling the moroc
co case flat against his heart, he sallied forth. He was
no smoker, but he lit a cigarette, and smoked it gin
gerly as he walked along. He moved slowly down the
Row towards Knightsbridge, timing himself to get
to Chelsea at ninefifteen. What did she do with her
self evening after evening in that little hole? How
mysterious women were! One lived alongside and
knew nothing of them. What could she have seen in
that fellow Bosinney to send her mad? For there was
madness after all in what she had done — crazy
moonstruck madness, in which all sense of values
had been lost, and her life and his life ruined! And for
a moment he was filled with a sort of exaltation, as
though he were a man read of in a story who, pos
sessed by the Christian spirit, would restore to her
all the prizes of existence, forgiving and forgetting,
and becoming the godfather of her future. Under a
tree opposite Knightsbridge Barracks, where the
moonlight struck down clear and white, he took out
once more the morocco case, and let the beams draw
colour from those stones. Yes, they were of the first
186
water! But, at the hard closing snap of the case,
another cold shiver ran through his nerves; and he
walked on faster, clenching his gloved hands in the
pockets of his coat, almost hoping she would not be
in. The thought of how mysterious she was again
beset him. Dining alone there night after night — in
an evening dress, too, as if she were making believe
to be in society! Playing the piano — to herself! Not
even a dog or cat, so far as he had seen. And that re
minded him suddenly of the mare he kept for station
work at Mapledurham. If ever he went to the stable,
there she was quite alone, half asleep, and yet, on her
home journeys going more freely than on her way
out, as if longing to be back and lonely in her stable!
‘I would treat her well,’ he thought incoherently.
‘I would be very careful.’ And all that capacity for
home life of which a mocking Fate seemed for ever to
have deprived him swelled suddenly in Soames, so
that he dreamed dreams opposite South Kensington
Station. In the King’s Road a man came slithering
out of a public house playing a concertina. Soames
watched him for a moment dance crazily on the
pavement to his own drawling jagged sounds, then
crossed over to avoid contact with this piece of
drunken foolery. A night in the lockup! What asses
people were! But the man had noticed his move
ment of avoidance, and streams of genial blasphemy
followed him across the street. ‘I hope they’ll run
him in,’ thought Soames viciously. ‘To have ruffians
PART II
187
like that about, with women out alone!’ A woman’s
figure in front had induced this thought. Her walk
seemed oddly familiar, and when she turned the cor
ner for which he was bound, his heart began to beat.
He hastened on to the corner to make certain. Yes!
IN CHANCERY
It was Irene; he could not mistake her walk in that
little drab street. She threaded two more turnings,
and from the last corner he saw her enter her block
of flats. To make sure of her now, he ran those few
paces, hurried up the stairs, and caught her standing
at her door. He heard the latchkey in the lock, and
reached her side just as she turned round, startled, in
the open doorway.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said, breathless. “I hap
pened to see you. Let me come in a minute.”
She had put her hand up to her breast, her face
was colourless, her eyes widened by alarm. Then
seeming to master herself, she inclined her head,
and said: “Very well.”
Soames closed the door. He, too, had need to
recover, and when she had passed into the sitting
room, waited a full minute, taking deep breaths to
still the beating of his heart. At this moment, so
fraught with the future, to take out that morocco
case seemed crude. Yet, not to take it out left him
there before her with no preliminary excuse for
coming. And in this dilemma he was seized with
impatience at all this paraphernalia of excuse and
justification. This was a scene — it could be noth
188
ing else, and he must face it. He heard her voice,
uncomfortably, pathetically soft: “Why have you
come again? Didn’t you understand that I would
rather you did not?”
He noticed her clothes — a dark brown velvet
corduroy, a sable boa, a small round toque of the
same. They suited her admirably. She had money
to spare for dress, evidently! He said abruptly: “It’s
your birthday. I brought you this,” and he held out
to her the green morocco case.
“Oh! No — no!”
Soames pressed the clasp; the seven stones gleamed
out on the pale grey velvet. “Why not?” he said. “Just
as a sign that you don’t bear me illfeeling any longer.”
“I couldn’t.”
Soames took it out of the case. “Let me just see
how it looks.”
She shrank back. He followed, thrusting his
hand with the brooch in it against the front of
her dress. She shrank again. Soames dropped his
hand.
1
“Irene,” he said, “let bygones be bygones
. If I
can, surely you might. Let’s begin again, as if noth
ing had been. Won’t you?” His voice was wistful,
and his eyes, resting on her face, had in them a sort
of supplication.
PART II
1
let bygones be bygones — (разг.) не будем вспоминать
о прошлом; кто старое помянет…
189
She, who was standing literally with her back
against the wall, gave a little gulp, and that was
all her answer. Soames went on: “Can you really
want to live all your days halfdead in this little
hole? Come back to me, and I’ll give you all you
IN CHANCERY
want. You shall live your own life; I swear it.”
He saw her face quiver ironically.
“Yes,” he repeated, “but I mean it this time. I’ll
only ask one thing. I just want — I just want a son.
Don’t look like that! I want one. It’s hard.” His
voice had grown hurried, so that he hardly knew
it for his own, and twice he jerked his head back
as if struggling for breath. It was the sight of her
eyes fixed on him, dark with a sort of fascinated
fright, which pulled him together and changed that
painful incoherence to anger.
“Is it so very unnatural?” he said between his
teeth, “Is it unnatural to want a child from one’s
own wife? You wrecked our life and put this
blight on everything. We go on only half alive,
and without any future. Is it so very unflattering
to you that in spite of everything I — I still want
you for my wife? Speak, for Goodness’ sake! do
speak.”
Irene seemed to try, but did not succeed.
“I don’t want to frighten you,” said Soames
more gently. “Heaven knows. I only want you to
see that I can’t go on like this. I want you back.
I want you.”
190
Соседние файлы в предмете [НЕСОРТИРОВАННОЕ]