Curious that on so warm a summer day, heat should be so comforting! Crossing into the hot room he met George Forsyte coming out, red and glistening.

“Hallo!” said George; “what are you training for? You’ve not got much superfluous.”

Buffoon! Soames passed him with his sideway smile. Lying back, rubbing his skin uneasily for the first signs of perspiration, he thought: “Let them laugh! I won’t feel anything! I can’t stand violence! It’s not good for me!”

A Summer Night

Soames left dead silence in the little study. “Thank you for that good lie,” said Jolyon suddenly. “Come out⁠—the air in here is not what it was!”