The Forsyte Saga – Complete, Chapter 55 summary

What happens

1. Convinced that Irene has another lover, Soames overcomes his humiliation and decides to employ detectives.
2. He instructs Claud Polteed to watch Irene under her maiden name and send confidential reports.
3. Polteed assigns numbers to everyone involved, and Soames locks away the code with his green morocco case.
4. Soames reviews Winifred’s appeal for Dartie’s return and worries that delay could undermine their plans.
5. Dreamer and Bellby agree to proceed without waiting until after Christmas for another response from Dartie.
6. Soames and Winifred return in silence, both resenting the exposure and surveillance their marital troubles require.

In this chapter

What to notice

The question joins their separate marital crises. Both resent the intrusive methods they use to address troubles they regard as undeserved.

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