To Let

To Let is the final novel in John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga, a series tracing the lives of a wealthy English family across several decades. The preceding novels, The Man of Property and In Chancery, established a bitter rift: Soames Forsyte, a possessive solicitor and art collector, married a beautiful woman named Irene who never loved him. Irene left Soames, lived alone for 12 years, and married Soames's cousin Jolyon Forsyte, with whom she had a son, Jon. Soames remarried a Frenchwoman named Annette, and they had a daughter, Fleur. Set in 1920 and 1921, To Let centers on the doomed love affair between Fleur and Jon, second cousins whose parents' unresolved past stands as an impassable barrier.

On May 12, 1920, Soames, now 65, walks through post-war London to a picture gallery. His fortune is intact and Fleur is the center of his life, while his marriage to Annette has grown cold. At the gallery, he meets a cheerful young man named Michael Mont, whom he impulsively invites to visit his picture collection and who will become an ardent suitor to Fleur. Soames also spots Irene, still beautiful, with her 19-year-old son Jon. When Fleur arrives, she notices Jon. At a nearby confectioner's shop, Fleur contrives to meet Jon by dropping her handkerchief. They exchange names and discover they are both Forsytes. Soames pulls Fleur away, but the connection is made.

Fleur presses Soames about the family estrangement; he tells her only that their grandfathers quarreled about a house. At Robin Hill, the country house where Jolyon and Irene live, Jolyon has been concealing a grave secret: His doctor warned him two years ago that his heart could fail at any moment of overstrain. He has hidden this from Irene and Jon and put all his affairs in order. When Irene tells him about the gallery encounter, the couple debate whether to tell Jon the truth. Irene fears Jon's youthful judgment would condemn her. Jolyon yields, writing instead to warn his daughter Holly that Jon must not learn the family history. Jon, meanwhile, lies awake consumed by love at first sight for Fleur.

Jon goes to live with Holly and her husband Val Dartie, Soames's nephew, on the Sussex Downs to learn farming. When Fleur visits, Holly introduces the two without revealing they have already met. That evening, Fleur leads Jon into the moonlit orchard and confesses she dropped her handkerchief on purpose. Over nine days their romance deepens, and Jon declares he wants to love only her.

Back at Robin Hill, Irene suggests Jon take a two-month trip to Italy, which he recognizes as an attempt to separate him from Fleur. Jon tells Fleur about the trip, and she insists he must go, reasoning that continued devotion will force their families to relent. She suggests Spain instead. They arrange to meet after his return. At Mapledurham, Soames's country house, Fleur confronts her father, and his anguished response convinces her that the rift runs far deeper than a quarrel over a house.

Jon accompanies Irene to Spain but returns after six weeks when he suffers sunstroke. They travel without a single allusion to Fleur. Meanwhile, June Forsyte, Jolyon's daughter from his first marriage, discovers her father's heart condition and learns about Jon and Fleur. She argues the past should be buried, but Jolyon objects, explaining that Soames once possessed Irene against her will. June visits Fleur at Mapledurham and tells her both young people ought to be told the truth.

The family secret unravels through multiple channels. Fleur discovers a hidden photograph of a young Irene in her father's sachet. Prosper Profond, a wealthy Belgian acquaintance of the family, reveals that Soames had a first wife who later married Jolyon. Soames's sister Winifred Dartie gives Fleur a sanitized account of the divorce, but Fleur perceives her aunt has left out everything that matters. She resolves to secure Jon before he learns the full truth.

Jon returns from Spain and reunites with Fleur in London. She tells him she believes his father simply took Irene from hers. Jon impulsively brings Fleur to Robin Hill, where they encounter Irene, who invites Fleur to tea with strained grace. Back at Mapledurham, Fleur tells Soames she knows Irene was his first wife and that she loves Jon. Soames warns her the situation is a deadlock: The enmity spans 35 years, and he himself is the impediment.

Fleur uses June's studio to meet Jon secretly and presses him to elope to Scotland, where a declaration before two witnesses constitutes a legal marriage. Jon, torn between his love for Fleur and his loyalty to his parents, asks for time. Meanwhile, Fleur persuades Soames to visit Irene as her emissary, promising the families need never see each other if the marriage proceeds. During this same period, Jolyon resolves to write Jon a full confession. In a long letter, he explains Irene's loveless marriage to Soames in 1883, her affair with the architect Philip Bosinney, Soames's rape of Irene, Bosinney's death, Irene's 12 years of solitude, and Jolyon and Irene's eventual union. He appeals to Jon to end the relationship.

Before the letter can be sent, Jon arrives and announces he and Fleur are engaged. Jolyon hands him the letter. Jon reads it and is devastated. Jolyon, searching the grounds for his son, overexerts himself and suffers a fatal heart attack. He staggers to his father's old armchair and scribbles the word Irene on a page before dying. Jon and Irene find him dead.

In the painful weeks that follow, Jon and Irene prepare an exhibition of Jolyon's watercolors, and Jon gains a deeper respect for his father. Fleur drives to Robin Hill and begs Jon not to give her up. He promises to try but warns her she does not understand what they face. That evening, Irene asks Jon if he can truly be happy with Fleur, telling him Fleur is a taker and he is a giver.

Soames at last visits Robin Hill, the house he built decades ago. Irene says the decision rests with Jon. Jon appears, haggard, and tells Soames to tell Fleur it is no good: He must honor his father's dying wish. Soames delivers the news. Fleur accuses him of betrayal. That night, Soames watches her roam the moonlit grounds and stations himself at the boat-house between her and the river. She turns back, and he later finds her curled on the sofa, crushed. He touches her hair and promises to make it up to her.

Jon resolves to leave England, unable to trust himself near Fleur. Irene suggests he go alone to see the world, and Jon agrees. In October, Fleur receives a letter from Jon in British Columbia: He is not coming back. She marries Michael Mont, who has been persistently courting her throughout the summer, at Hanover Square, outwardly composed but inwardly hollow. After the ceremony she breaks down sobbing in June's arms, then composes herself. Soames watches her leave, overwhelmed when she calls him Daddy for the first time in years. Timothy Forsyte, the last of the old generation, dies; only Soames, his old clerk Gradman, and the servants attend the funeral. At Jolyon's watercolor exhibition, Soames concedes the work has merit. On his way out he encounters Irene coming in; she lifts her gloved hand in a faint smile of farewell. At Highgate Cemetery, Soames sits by the Forsyte vault and reflects on his entire life. The novel closes with him in the autumn sunshine, acknowledging the melancholy craving in his heart for beauty and love, which he might wish for and never get.