' "It is doubtful," he said, "what
that authority has decided; in any case I would submit that it is just
as much in my favour as in my friend's." He then argued the 'nice
point' closely. With all due deference he submitted that Mr. Forsyte's
expression nullified itself. His client not being a rich man, the matter
was a serious one for him; he was a very talented architect, whose
professional reputation was undoubtedly somewhat at stake. He concluded
with a perhaps too personal appeal to the Judge, as a lover of the arts,
to show himself the protector of artists, from what was occasionally--he
said occasionally--the too iron hand of capital. "What," he said, "will
be the position of the artistic professions, if men of property like
this Mr. Forsyte refuse, and are allowed to refuse, to carry out the
obligations of the commissions which they have given." He would now call
his client, in case he should at the last moment have found himself able
to be present.
The name Philip Baynes Bosinney was called three times by the Ushers,
and the sound of the calling echoed with strange melancholy throughout
the Court and Galleries.
The crying of this name, to which no answer was returned, had upon
James a curious effect: it was like calling for your lost dog about
the streets.
Pages:
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429