ed house behind,
which soon would be to let.

X

FLEUR'S WEDDING

The October paragraphs describing the wedding of Fleur Forsyte to Michael
Mont hardly conveyed the symbolic significance of this event. In the
union of the great-granddaughter of "Superior Dosset" with the heir of a
ninth baronet was the outward and visible sign of that merger of class in
class which buttresses the political stability of a realm. The time had
come when the Forsytes might resign their natural resentment against a
"flummery" not theirs by birth, and accept it as the still more natural
due of their possessive instincts. Besides, they had to mount to make
room for all those so much more newly rich. In that quiet but tasteful
ceremony in Hanover Square, and afterward among the furniture in Green
Street, it had been impossible for those not in the know to distinguish
the Forsyte troop from the Mont contingent--so far away was "Superior
Dosset" now. Was there, in the crease of his trousers, the expression of
his moustache, his accent, or the shine on his top-hat, a pin to choose
between Soames and the ninth baronet himself? Was not Fleur as
self-possessed, quick, glancing, pretty, and hard as the likeliest
Muskham, Mont, or Charwell filly present? If anything, the Forsytes had
it in dress and looks and manners. They had become "upper class" and now
their name would be formally recorded in the Stud Book, their money
joined to land. Whether this was a little late in the day, and those
rewards of the possessive instinct, lands and money, destined for the
melting-pot--was still a question so moot that it was not mooted. After
all, Timothy had said Consols were goin' up. Timothy, the last, the
missing link; Timothy, in extremis on the Bayswater Road--so Francie had
reported. It was whispered, too, that this young Mont was a sort of
socialist--strangely wise of him, and in the nature of insurance,
considering the days they lived in. There was no uneasiness on that
score. The landed classes produced that sort of amiable foolishness at
times, turned to safe uses and confined to theory. As George remarked to
his sister Francie: "They'll soon be having puppies--that'll give him
pause."

The church with white flowers and something blue in the middle of the
East window looked extremely chaste, as though endeavouring to counteract
the somewhat lurid phraseology of a Service calculated to keep the
thoughts of all on puppies. Forsytes