It was not altogether for this reason, therefore, that the minds of the Forsytes misgave them.

They could not have explained the origin of a misgiving obscured by the mist of family gossip.

A story was undoubtedly told that he had paid his duty call to Aunts Ann, Juley, and Hester, in a soft grey hat--a soft grey hat, not even a new one--a dusty thing with a shapeless crown.

"So, extraordinary, my dear--so odd," Aunt Hester, passing through the little, dark hall (she was rather short-sighted), had tried to 'shoo' it off a chair, taking it for a strange, disreputable cat--Tommy had such disgraceful friends! She was disturbed when it did not move.
Like an artist for ever seeking to discover the significant trifle which embodies the whole character of a scene, or place, or person, so those unconscious artists--the Forsytes had fastened by intuition on this hat; it was their significant trifle, the detail in which was embedded the meaning of the whole matter; for each had asked himself: "Come, now, should I have paid that visit in that hat ?" and each had answered "No!" and some, with more imagination than others, had added: "It would never have come into my head!" George, on hearing the story, grinned.

The hat had obviously been worn as a practical joke! He himself was a connoisseur of such.