It was supposed that he went abroad and saw all sorts of people now that his wife was dead; his water-colours were on the line, and he was a successful man.

Francie went so far as to say: "I should like to see him again; he was rather a dear." Aunt Juley recalled how he had gone to sleep on the sofa one day, where James was sitting.

He had always been very amiable; what did Soames think?
Knowing that Jolyon was Irene's trustee, all felt the delicacy of this question, and looked at Soames with interest.

A faint pink had come up in his cheeks.
"He's going grey," he said.
Indeed! Had Soames seen him?
Soames nodded, and the pink vanished.
James said suddenly: "Well--I don't know, I can't tell." It so exactly expressed the sentiment of everybody present that there was something behind everything, that nobody responded.

But at this moment Aunt Hester returned.
"Timothy," she said in a low voice, "Timothy has bought a map, and he's put in--he's put in three flags." Timothy had...! A sigh went round the company.
If Timothy had indeed put in three flags already, well!--it showed what the nation could do when it was roused.