SWAN SONG 755
" Just come in."
" Oh ! " said Soames, rather taken aback.
" Gentleman to see him. Bob.15
A rather sinking sensation occurred within Soames.
" Come with me, sir."
Soames took a deep breath, and his legs moved. In an
alcove off the entrance—somewhat shabby and constricted
—he could see a man lolling in an old armchair, smoking
a cigarette through a holder. He had a little red book in
one hand and a small pencil in the other, and held them
as still as if he were about to jot down a conviction that
he had not got. He wore a dark suit with little lines ;
his legs were crossed, and Soames noted that one foot in
a worn brown shoe, treed and polished against age to the
point of pathos, was slowly moving in a circle;
" Gemman to see you, sir."
Soames now saw the face. Its eyebrows were lifted in
a V reversed, its eyelids nearly covered its eyes. Together
with the figure, it gave an impression of really remarkable
languor. Thin to a degree, oval and pale, it seemed all
shadow and slightly aquiline feature. The foot had become
still, the whole affair still. Soames had the curious feeling
of being in the presence of something arrogantly dead.
Without time for thought, he began:
" Mr. Stainford, I think ? Don't disturb yourself. My
name is Forsyte. You called at my sister's in Green Street
yesterday afternoon."
A slight contraction of the lines round that small mouth
was followed by the words:
tc Will you sit down ? "
The eyes had opened now, and must once have been
beautiful. They narrowed again, so that Soames could
not help feeling that their owner had outlived everything
except himself. He swallowed a qualm and resumed: