The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad

footman then closed the door, and Mr Vladimir lighted his large

Havana with leisurely care.

When at last he got out of the house, he saw with disgust the

“confounded policeman” still standing on the pavement.

“Can he be waiting for me,” thought Mr Vladimir, looking up and

down for some signs of a hansom. He saw none. A couple of

carriages waited by the curbstone, their lamps blazing steadily,

the horses standing perfectly still, as if carved in stone, the

coachmen sitting motionless under the big fur capes, without as

much as a quiver stirring the white thongs of their big whips. Mr

Vladimir walked on, and the “confounded policeman” fell into step

at his elbow. He said nothing. At the end of the fourth stride Mr

Vladimir felt infuriated and uneasy. This could not last.

“Rotten weather,” he growled savagely.

“Mild,” said the Assistant Commissioner without passion. He

remained silent for a little while. “We’ve got hold of a man

called Verloc,” he announced casually.

Mr Vladimir did not stumble, did not stagger back, did not change

his stride. But he could not prevent himself from exclaiming:

“What?” The Assistant Commissioner did not repeat his statement.

“You know him,” he went on in the same tone.

Mr Vladimir stopped, and became guttural. “What makes you say

that?”

“I don’t. It’s Verloc who says that.”

“A lying dog of some sort,” said Mr Vladimir in somewhat Oriental

phraseology. But in his heart he was almost awed by the miraculous

cleverness of the English police. The change of his opinion on the

subject was so violent that it made him for a moment feel slightly

sick. He threw away his cigar, and moved on.

“What pleased me most in this affair,” the Assistant went on,

talking slowly, “is that it makes such an excellent starting-point

for a piece of work which I’ve felt must be taken in hand – that

is, the clearing out of this country of all the foreign political

spies, police, and that sort of – of – dogs. In my opinion they

are a ghastly nuisance; also an element of danger. But we can’t

very well seek them out individually. The only way is to make

their employment unpleasant to their employers. The thing’s

becoming indecent. And dangerous too, for us, here.”

Mr Vladimir stopped again for a moment.

“What do you mean?”

“The prosecution of this Verloc will demonstrate to the public both

the danger and the indecency.”

“Nobody will believe what a man of that sort says,” said Mr

Vladimir contemptuously.

“The wealth and precision of detail will carry conviction to the

great mass of the public,” advanced the Assistant Commissioner

gently.

“So that is seriously what you mean to do.”

“We’ve got the man; we have no choice.”

“You will be only feeding up the lying spirit of these

revolutionary scoundrels,” Mr Vladimir protested. “What do you

want to make a scandal for? – from morality – or what?”

Mr Vladimir’s anxiety was obvious. The Assistant Commissioner

having ascertained in this way that there must be some truth in the

summary statements of Mr Verloc, said indifferently:

“There’s a practical side too. We have really enough to do to look

after the genuine article. You can’t say we are not effective.

But we don’t intend to let ourselves be bothered by shams under any

pretext whatever.”

Mr Vladimir’s tone became lofty.

“For my part, I can’t share your view. It is selfish. My

sentiments for my own country cannot be doubted; but I’ve always

felt that we ought to be good Europeans besides – I mean

governments and men.”

“Yes,” said the Assistant Commissioner simply. “Only you look at

Europe from its other end. But,” he went on in a good-natured

tone, “the foreign governments cannot complain of the inefficiency

of our police. Look at this outrage; a case specially difficult to

trace inasmuch as it was a sham. In less than twelve hours we have

established the identity of a man literally blown to shreds, have

found the organiser of the attempt, and have had a glimpse of the

inciter behind him. And we could have gone further; only we

stopped at the limits of our territory.”

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