What would've happened if....?

I'm not sure if Galsworthy would not have had a story to write if the plot had gone the way you described! It would have take new twists I suppose.

I do recall that Irene was fearful of Jon being told the truth because she worried that he would think poorly of his mother for marrying someone she did not love. Children (even adult ones) can be very harsh on their own parents if they discover how human they are! Young Jolyon even commented on that (not sure if it was in the book or in the original adaptation). As a matter of fact, I think the delay in telling Jon was due to Irene's reluctance. Dredging up old unpleasant memories...

Had Jon and Fleur known the truth earlier, the storyline would have proceeded quite differently. Jon might well have ended the relationship, then and there. But then again... maybe not. Remember, Jon only renounced Fleur AFTER Jolyon's death, which left Irene a heart-broken widow. If the revelation had come earlier, with Jolyon still alive, Irene might not have appeared so pathetic a figure to her son. Jon, a true romantic, might have refused to be hampered or restricted by the sordid family history. He might have broken free of it altogether. In which event he probably would have eloped with Fleur to Scotland, as she wanted him to do.

But once they'd married, what then? Fleur wanted Jon mostly because she couldn't have him. Once she had him, all the allure of a "forbidden love" would have been gone. And Jon's infatuation for this spoiled and wilful girl would have died, too, in the face of stark reality. Besides, they had nothing whatsoever in common. Fleur wanted to be the center of attention at every social gathering, whereas Jon wanted the quiet life of a farmer. Can you see Jon---shy, inarticulate Jon---enjoying one of Fleur's hectic parties? Or can you picture Fleur as a farmer's wife, hoeing turnips? No way! They were hopelessly mismatched.

In the final analysis, I think, they both had a lucky escape. Fleur, despite all her restlessness, was much better off married to Michael, who introduced her into high society. And Jon was much happier with a nice, quiet homebody like Anne.

"Of course, in reality, I know that Galsworthy would not have a story to write"

Very true, but such plot devices have often figured in fiction, and we just suspend our disbelief. I read a novel in which an important plot point was the fact that, for various reasons, the paternity of one character was disguised (for reasons of shame and embarassment prevalent at the time the story was set), and he was believed to be adopted, and so there seemed to be no complication to his romance with his "niece" - however, the truth came out, as it had to, and led to tragic consequences - all of which could have been avoided if the truth hadn't been fudged.

"I don't use a pen: I write with a goose quill dipped in venom!"---W. Lydecker

Fleur was devious from the get-go. She loved the intrigue of "forbidden fruit," which was what drew her to Jon in the first place. In TO LET, her interest in him grew exponetially AFTER she'd heard there was a family feud. What began as just casual flirtation---"Peek-a-boo!"---in the picture gallery quickly turned into romantic obsession. And why? Because she'd been told she couldn't have this particular boy. That was what made him so special. Jon represented a challenge, and it was Fleur's nature to go chasing after the unattainable. There was nothing wrong with Michael Mont except that he was always too easy. From the first Michael adored her and even Fleur's parents encouraged the match, so with Michael there would never be any challenge for her to overcome.

Winning back Jon became Fleur's obsession, and to achieve that she constantly lied and schemed. She didn't wear her heart on her sleeve at all. Quite the reverse, in fact. Galsworthy tells us that "She was mistress of her face and movements now [in SWAN SONG] as she had never been when she and Jon were babes in the wood." After six years of a lukewarm marriage, along with all her experiences in Society, Fleur had learned to dissemble. She continued to show Michael affection and "no one, watching her, would have guessed that she wanted another in his place." (Galsworthy's words, not mine.) Jon represented her one serious defeat, which she now meant to wipe out by winning him back. She saw Anne as competition and just an annoying obstacle in her way. She saw Michael as a "dear", but someone gullible enough to be hoodwinked and deceived. Fleur was riding for a fall and granted, she learned a very hard lesson in the end. But were she and Jon really star-crossed lovers?

I don't think so. In the final analysis Fleur was simply a spoiled brat. Part of the problewm was her having way too much time on her hands. Aside from her one stint of work, running that canteen during the General Strike, she had nothing to do but look pretty. Most of her life consisted of shallow social events, parties and concerts. When Jon returned to England he gave her a brand-new, more exciting goal. And being bored and idle, she naturally got into mischief. Her obsession with him returned in full force...and it was an obsession very much like Soames's desire for Irene, based on wrong-headed thinking.

And Jon? Galsworthy tells us that despite his straying, Jon genuinely loved his wife: "For in his heart he knew that Anne was more his mate, more her with whom he could live and move and have his being, than ever Fleur could be." Residual feelings from the past weren't enough to make him forsake a basically happy marriage. Ultimately, even without Anne's pregnancy, Jon would never have chosen Fleur. After the affair ended her pain was very real but she got the wake-up call she needed. Michael was the man who truly loved and supported her; Jon, the one who consistently let her down. Fleur already had something very good, and only a spoiled brat like herself would have demanded more.

Even if Galsworthy had written that story it dill would have been a disaster. The issue was less about how their parents' secrets kept them apart and more about how much Fleur was like her father. She had been indulged her whole life by a father who never told her no. Jon was just something else she owned and if they had gotten married instead of breaking up, he would have felt as suffocated as his mother did.

Fluer would have been the kind of wife who was used to getting whatever she wanted and I can imagine that if Jon wouldn't or didn't have the money to indulge her she would have run to her father for the money. This way the two of them could have a sort of happy ending.