At this moment the Sub–Committee re-entering the room, Michael rose, not without relief.

“Hallo!” he heard the Squire say: “you’ve been pretty slippy.”

The look of modest worth which passed over the faces of the Sub–Committee did not altogether deceive Michael, who knew that his Uncle had brought the draft appeal in his coat pocket. It was now handed up, and the Squire, putting on some horn-rimmed spectacles, began reading it aloud, as if it were an entry of hounds, or the rules of a race meeting. Michael could not help feeling that what it lost it gained—the Squire and emphasis were somehow incompatible. When he had finished reading, the Squire said:

“We can discuss it now, clause by clause. But time’s getting on, gentlemen. Personally, I think it about fills the bill. What do you say, Marquess?”

The Marquess leaned forward and took his beard in his hand.

“An admirable draft, with one exception. Not sufficient stress is laid on electrification of the kitchens. Sir Godfrey will bear me out. You can’t expect these poor people to keep their houses clean unless you can get rid of the smoke and the smells and the flies.”

“Well, we can put in something more about that, if you’ll give us the wording, Marquess.”

The Marquess began to write. Michael saw Sir Timothy twirl his moustaches.

“I’M not satisfied,” he began abruptly. “I want something that’ll make slum landlords sit up. We’re here to twist their tails. The appeal’s too mild.”

“M-m!” said the Squire; “What do you suggest, Fanfield?”

Sir Timothy read from his shirt cuff.

“‘We record our conviction that anyone who owns slum property ought to be shot. These gentlemen—’”

“THAT won’t do,” said the Squire.

“Why not?”

“All sorts of respectable people own slum property—Widows, Syndicates, Dukes, goodness-knows-who! We can’t go calling them gentlemen, and sayin’ they ought to be shot. It won’t DO.”

The bishop leaned forward:

“Might we rather word it like this? ‘The signatories much regret that those persons who own slum property are not more alive to their responsibilities to the community at large.’”

“Good Lord!” burst from Sir Timothy.

“I think we might pitch it stronger than that, Bishop,” said Sir Lawrence: “But we ought to have a lawyer here, to tell us exactly how far we can go.”

Michael turned to the Chairman:

“I’ve got one in the house, sir. My father-inlaw—I saw him come in just now. I daresay he’d advise us.”

“Old Forsyte!” said Sir Lawrence. “The very man! We ought to have him on the Committee, Squire. He’s well up in the law of libel.”

“Ah!” said the Marquess: “Mr. Forsyte! By all means—a steady head.”

“Let’s co-opt him, then,” said the Squire; “a lawyer’s always useful.”

Michael went out.

Having drawn the Fragonard blank, he went up to his study, and was greeted by Soames’ “What’s this?”

“Pretty good, sir, don’t you think? It’s Fleur’s—got feeling.”

“Yes,” muttered Soames; “too much, I shouldn’t wonder.”

“You saw the hats in the hall, no doubt. My Slum Conversion Committee are just drafting their appeal, and they’d be most frightfully obliged to you, sir, as a lawyer, if you’d come down and cast your eye over one or two of the allusions to slum landlords. They want to go just far enough, you know. In fact, if it wouldn’t bore you terribly, they’d like to co-opt you on the Committee.”

“Would they?” said Soames: “And who are THEY?”

Michael ran over the names.

Soames drew up a nostril. “Lot of titles! Is this a wild-cat thing?”

“Oh! no, sir. Our wish to have you on is a guarantee against that. Besides, our Chairman, Wilfred Bentworth, has refused a title three times.”

“Well,” said Soames, “I don’t know. I’ll come and have a look at them.”

“That’s very good of you. I think you’ll find them thoroughly respectable,” and he preceded Soames downstairs.

“This is quite out of my line,” said Soames on the threshold. He was greeted with a number of little silent bows and nods. It was his impression that they’d been having a scrap.

“Mr.—Mr. Forsyte,” said what he supposed was this Bentworth, “we want you as a lawyer to come on this Committee and keep us—er—straight—check our fire-eaters, like Fanfield there, if you know what I mean;” and he looked over his tortoiseshell spectacles at Sir Timothy. “Just cast your eye over this, will you be so good?” He passed a sheet of paper to Soames, who had sat down on a chair slipped under him by the young woman. Soames began to read:

“‘While we suppose that there may be circumstances which justify the possession of slum property, we never-the-less regret profoundly the apparent indifference of most slum owners to this great national evil. With the hearty cooperation of slum property owners, much might be done which at present cannot be done. We do not wish to hold them up to the execration of anyone, but we want them to realise that they must at least co-operate in getting rid of this blot on our civilisation.’”

He read it twice, holding the end of his nose between his thumb and finger; then said: “‘We don’t wish to hold them up to the execration of anyone.’ If you don’t, you don’t; then why say so? The word ‘execration’! H’m!”

“Exactly!” said the Chairman: “Most valuable to have you on the Committee, Mr.—Forsyte.”

“Not at all,” said Soames, staring round him: “I don’t know that I’m coming on.”

“Look here, sir!” And Soames saw a fellow who looked like a General in a story-book, leaning towards him: “D’you mean to say we can’t use a mild word like ‘execration,’ when we know they ought to be shot?”

Soames gave a pale smile: if there was a thing he couldn’t stand, it was militarism.

“You can use it if you like,” he said, “but not with me or any other man of judgment on the Committee.”

At his words at least four members of the Committee burst into speech. Had he said anything too strong?

“We’ll pass that without those words, then,” said the Chairman. “Now for your clause about the kitchens, Marquess. That’s important.”

The Marquess began reading; Soames looked at him almost with benevolence. They had hit it off very well over the Morland. No one objected to the addition, and it was adopted.

“That’s that, then. I don’t think there’s anything more. I want to get off.”

“A minute, Mr. Chairman.” Soames saw that the words were issuing from behind a walrus-like moustache. “I know more of these people than any of you here. I started life in the slums, and I want to tell you something. Suppose you get some money, suppose you convert some streets, will you convert those people? No, gentlemen; you won’t.”

“Their children, Mr. Montross, their children,” said a man whom Soames recognized as one of those who had married Michael to his daughter.

“I’m not against the appeal, Mr. Charwell, but I’m a self-made man and a realist, and I know what we’re up against. I’m going to put some money into this, gentlemen, but I want you to know that I do so with my eyes open.”

Soames saw the eyes, melancholy and brown, fixed on himself, and had a longing to say: “You bet!” But, looking at Sir Lawrence, he saw that “old Mont” had the longing, too, and closed his lips firmly.

“Capital!” said the Chairman. “Well, Mr. Forsyte, are you joining us?”

Soames looked round the table.

“I’ll go into the matter,” he said, “and let you know.”

Almost instantly the Committee broke towards their hats, and he was left opposite the Goya with the Marquess.

“A Goya, Mr. Forsyte, I think, and a good one. Am I mistaken, or didn’t it once belong to Burlingford?”

“Yes,” said Soames, astonished. “I bought it when Lord Burlingford sold his pictures in 1910.”

“I thought so. Poor Burlingford! He got very rattled, I remember over the House of Lords. But, you see, they’ve done nothing since. How English it all was!”