ot, however, be free to
marry again till the decree is confirmed six months hence. In the
meanwhile I have the honor to ask to be considered a formal suitor for
the hand of your daughter. I shall write again in a few days and beg you
both to come and stay at my river house.
"I am, dear Madame,
"Sincerely yours,
"SOAMES FORSYTE."

Having sealed and posted this letter, he went into the dining-room. Three
mouthfuls of soup convinced him that he could not eat; and, causing a cab
to be summoned, he drove to Paddington Station and took the first train
to Reading. He reached his house just as the sun went down, and wandered
out on to the lawn. The air was drenched with the scent of pinks and
picotees in his flower-borders. A stealing coolness came off the river.

Rest-peace! Let a poor fellow rest! Let not worry and shame and anger
chase like evil night-birds in his head! Like those doves perched
half-sleeping on their dovecot, like the furry creatures in the woods on
the far side, and the simple folk in their cottages, like the trees and
the river itself, whitening fast in twilight, like the darkening
cornflower-blue sky where stars were coming up--let him cease from
himself, and rest!

CHAPTER X

PASSING OF AN AGE

The marriage of Soames with Annette took place in Paris on the last day
of January, 1901, with such privacy that not even Emily was told until it
was accomplished.

The day after the wedding he brought her to one of those quiet hotels in
London where greater expense can be incurred for less result than
anywhere else under heaven. Her beauty in the best Parisian frocks was
giving him more satisfaction than if he had collected a perfect bit of
china, or a jewel of a picture; he looked forward to the moment when he
would exhibit her in Park Lane, in Green Street, and at Timothy's.

If some one had asked him in those days, "In confidence--are you in love
with this girl?" he would have replied: "In love? What is love? If you
mean do I feel to her as I did towards Irene in those old days when I
first met her and she would not have me; when I sighed and starved after
her and couldn't rest a minute until she yielded--no! If you mean do I
admire her youth and prettiness, do my senses ache a little when I see
her moving about--yes! Do I think she will keep me straight, make me a
creditable wife and a good mother for my children?--again, yes!"

"What more do I need? and what more do three-quarte