The Secret Agent (6)

Hello guys,

Here is the sixth part of our story by Joseph Conrad.

Enjoy!




Chapter six

 

 

Winnie’s mother moves out

 

 

One day, between Verloc’s visit to the Embassy and the Greenwich bombing, Winnie's mother moved out. She had managed to get a little charity cottage from the people that her husband had worked for. Winnie was so surprised when she heard the news that she stopped cleaning the back room and stared at her mother.

‘Why did you want to do that, mother? Weren’t you comfortable enough here?’

The old woman explained how ‘poor daddy's friends’ had helped her to get the house. When the story was nished, Winnie left the room. Her mother was glad that there were no more questions. The day before she left Brett Street, she said to Winnie: ‘Everything I leave here is yours now, my dear.’ She left nothing for Stevie because she thought it was best if the boy had to depend on Verloc. If Stevie had nothing. they could not leave him to look after himself.

 

                                          ###################

 

 

On the day that she left, an old cab, pulled by an even older horse, came to take Winnie’s mother to her new house. The two women got into the cab and Stevie climbed onto the box next to the driver.

They started their journey through the grey streets. The horse was old and thin and it went very slowly, although the driver whipped it from time to time.

Up on the box, Stevie was worried. ‘You m-m-mustn’t w-w-whip,‘ he said, stuttering, to the driver. ‘It h-h-hurts.’

The driver looked at him, and he whipped the horse again; not because he was a bad man, but because it was what he usually did and he saw nothingwrong in it.

It was all too much for Stevie. Suddenly, he stood up and, stuttering more than ever. he jumped down from the box. There were shouts from the people in the street as the angry driver stopped his cab suddenly. Winnie put her head out of the window and her mother shouted, ‘Is the boy hurt?'

Stevie was not hurt, but he was excited. ‘We're t—t-too heavy.’ he stuttered.

‘Stevie! Get up on the box now, and don’t try to get down again.’

Winnie's voice shook a little.

'No. I in-m-must w-w-walk.‘

‘Mr Verloc won’t be happy at all about this, Stevie.’

The name of Winnie’s husband calmed Stevie down a little. Unhappily, he climbed up again onto the box.

'Don’t do that again, do you hear?’ said the driver. He did not speak too angrily because he was beginning to realize that Stevie was not the same as other young men.

The cab continued on its way and for a while, the only sound was that of the horse’s feet on the hard road. Inside the cab Winnie said; ‘You’ve done what you wanted. mother, but do you think you'll be happy?’

The old woman tried to be optimistic and said; ‘I know you'll visit me as often as you can, won’t you dear?’

‘Of course,’ said Winnie.

‘And I must see that poor boy every Sunday.’ She thought of the journey that Stevie now had to make to get to her cottage from the shop and all her optimistic thoughts disappeared. He had to take two buses! It was going to be too difficult for him! She started to cry.

‘Don’t cry, mother. I can’t come myself every week, but l'll make sure that he doesn't get lost.’

‘Here you are!’ said the driver.

The cab had stopped outside one of a group of little low cottages. The old woman got out with a key in her hand and Winnie paid the driver. Stevie helped his mother to take her things into the house. Then he came out and stared with a worried look at the horse. The driver spoke to him.

‘Don’t worry about the horse, son. What about me, eh? I work until three or four in the morning. I get cold and hungry. And .I’ve got a wife and four children at home. This isn’t an easy world.’

‘Bad!’ agreed Stevie. He felt sorry for the horse, and for the driver with the wife and four children at home, too. He hated the unfairness of it all.

The driver walked away pulling his horse and cab after him. Stevie watched them go with his mouth open. He was sorry and angry at the same time. When he felt like this, he did not know what to do. Winnie came out of the house and took his arm. She did not really understand her brother’s feelings but she knew that she must make him think of something else.

‘Now Stevie, you must look after me when we cross the road, and you get onto the bus first, like a good brother.’

This worked well. Being a good brother was the most important thing in the world to Stevie.

They walked down the poor, badly-lit street. The old horse with its cab was standing with its head down outside a pub.

'Poor thing,’ said Winnie without thinking.

'Poor! Poor!’ agreed Stevie. ‘The driver is poor. too. He told me himself.'

‘Come on Stevie. You can't help that.’

Stevie thought for a while. ‘Bad world for poor people.’

‘Nobody can help that.’

She looked at him with great affection. ‘Quick, Stevie. Stop that green bus.’ Stevie, feeling important, lifted up his arm. The bus stopped and they got on.

 

                                             ##############

 

 

An hour later they arrived home. Verloc was there, reading the newspaper. He stared heavily at his wife but said nothing and showed no interest in what they had done that day.

At supper-time, Winnie called to her husband as usual, ‘Adolf’, and without a word Verloc came to the table where he ate in silence. Winnie noticed the empty place where her mother usually sat and realized that she missed her very much. She looked at her husband. ‘Are you going out tonight?’

Verloc shook his head but two minutes later he got up and left. He did not know who he could find to plant a bomb at Greenwich Observatory, but the streets and the crowded bars held no answers for him. Feeling worse than before, he finally returned home. where he locked the front door and went straight upstairs.

Winnie was already in bed but she was not sleeping. Verloc’s heavy silence was beginning to worry her. As usual when she was worried she talked about something else.

‘Mother's done what she wanted to do. But I don’t understand it. I don’t know what I am going to do to make Stevie feel happy. He’ll be worried about her for days.’

Verloc got into bed. He really wanted to tell his wife everything about his problems with the Embassy, but instead he said: ‘I am going abroad tomorrow. I’ll be away for a week, or perhaps two. Will you be all right?’

Winnie said, ‘I shall manage with Stevie’s help.’

 

                                                                            (to be continued)

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