Suppose Galsworthy had written THE MAN OF PROPERTY as a whodunit????
In a totally silly and frivolous frame of mind I've been wondering this. Suppose Irene had been "killed off" in the very first book? This would have happened when she was in the passionate throes of her affair with Philip Bosinney, at a time when several people really might have wanted her dead. Soames, June, James, Winifred, even Monty Dartie whose advances she had spurned. And perhaps Bosinney himself would be added to the suspect list, once we knew that he'd had a lovers' quarrel with Irene just prior to the murder!
How would Irene have died? I'm picturing her as bludgeoned to death or stabbed while sitting at her beloved piano. Agatha Christie might have collaborated with Galsworthy as to the gory details since Galsworthy didn't normally write scenes of that nature. Whatever the case, Irene would be offed and Soames put on trial until the real killer---Irene's stepmother---was revealed. And how would the other characters be affected by this tragedy? The rest of the Forsyte Chronicles would have been radically different, that's for sure...
Here's how I imagine the scenario:
Soames mourns his wife for many years. Then, in 1892, he marries Winifred's best friend, Letty MacAnder, who appears briefly in the books. In the books Mrs. MacAnder is a "grass widow" i.e., a woman whose husband has deserted her. She personally hates Irene and tries to make trouble for her by spreading negative gossip. In THE MAN OF PROPERTY Soames calls MacAnder a "cat" and clearly doesn't like her. However, after Irene's death he sees how much he and Letty have in common. Both of them were unloved by their previous mates. Also, the entire family is pushing him towards remarriage, and the Forsytes like Mrs. MacAnder. I picture her as producing twin sons, James ("Jimmy") and Julian Forsyte,before her passing in 1895. Soames then observes a suitable mourning period and six years later, weds his third wife, Annette. Fleur is born in due course; and while Soames adores his only daughter, he spoils her less than he did in the original timeline. Because now, in addition to Fleur, he has the two sons...who do extraordinarily well in business later on, I should mention.
June tries to comfort Bosinney, but he's devastated by Irene's death. She waits a long time for him and eventually her fidelity and patience pay off. Bosinney marries June in 1891 but remains a broken man. Before the end of the
century he drinks himself to death. June by then has several children to console her. She considers them all geniuses---"like their father"---and fiercely champions them in all of life's battles.
Soames cannot bear to live in the house that was intended for Irene, so he sells it to Old Jolyon as in the original timeline. Old Jolyon lives six extra years; without Irene's beauty to inflame him, his heart doesn't wear out so fast! And Young Jolyon fares better too for having never known and loved this dangerous woman. After losing his second wife, Young Jolyon enjoys a quiet, calm, uncomplicated existence. He has few emotional upsets. And because of that he gets a whole extra decade, dying in 1930 instead of 1920!
Also, with Irene's presence erased, Young Jolyon pays more attention to his children, Jolly and Holly, during the Boer War. He notices the Jolly-Val hostility and nips it in the bud so that Holly can marry Val without any "challenges" being issued. And Jolly, in consequence, never goes to South Africa either. He stays in England, marries, has seven children, survives the First World War with distinguished honors, and lives to age 95!
And what of Fleur? Without Irene Jon doesn't exist, so Fleur never knows the tragedy of a thwarted love. She has several suitors in her young days, including Wilfrid Desert, Aubrey Greene and of course Michael Mont. She takes Michael for granted until one day, she notices his friendship with Norah Curfew and realizes that Norah could become a serious rival. After that, Fleur perversely wamnts Michael for herself. She smoothly engineers their marriage and ever afterwards views her husband as a cherished prize that she won. She remains a bit of a brat, but in this altered timeline she's much happier and she makes Michael a whole lot happier, too!
Ah, Irene! It's A Wonderful Life...when you're not in it!