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. The war was as good as over.