The Secret Agent (9)

Hello guys,

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

Enjoy!




Chapter nine

 

Winnie and Verloc

 

After Chief Inspector Heat had left, Verloc walked into the shop, wondering what to say to Winnie. She had not moved and she still had her hands over her face. When he spoke at last, her body began to shake.

‘Winnie, you know that I didn’t want anything to happen to Stevie. Heat was stupid, telling you so suddenly like that, eh?’

When Winnie did not reply, Verloc thought that he should leave her alone for a while. He went into the back room where the food still lay on the table. Taking off his hat, he put it down lazily on the table itself. Then, taking hold of the carving knife, he cut himself a piece of bread and meat.

He had not eaten all day. There was no food in Michaelis's cottage. When Michaelis had sat down that morning to write his book, Verloc had called up the stairs, ‘I’m taking this young man home for a day or two.’ He had not waited for an answer but had left the house quickly, followed by Stevie. Now that his busy day was over, Verloc felt very empty. He ate standing up and tried to make Winnie talk to him.

‘Come on Winnie. We’ve got to think of tomorrow. You will have to be strong after I am taken away.’

Winnie’s body was shaking more than ever. Verloc felt sorry for his wife but he really had no idea of how she felt about Stevie. He had never understood much about Winnie.

‘You should look at me when I’m talking to you. Winnie.’

Winnie’s voice was flat and dead—sounding: ‘I never want to look at you as long as I live.’

‘Come on Winnie. You can’t sit here in the shop. Someone may come in. This won’t bring him back. At least you haven’t lost me, have you?’

Winnie sat without moving or speaking, and Verloc began to feel afraid. He tried to take hold of her wrist but she suddenly jumped up and ran away from him into the kitchen. She had not looked at him once.

Verloc sat down on the empty chair with a dark, thoughtful look on his face. He was thinking about the future. What he saw was some time in prison — not too long — and then life abroad somewhere. He had been so near to success! But then the label on the coat was discovered. A small thing had spoilt the plan. It was like standing on a banana skin in the dark and breaking your leg.

He sighed heavily, locked the shop door and walked into the kitchen. Winnie was sitting at the table where Stevie usually sat to draw his circles. Her head was resting on her arms.

Verloc walked round and round the room like a large animal in a cage. Finally he exploded: ‘You don’t know what a stupid. dangerous man I had to work for. We’ve been married for seven years and all that time I was in danger of losing my life but I didn’t say anything. What for? Why should you have to worry? For eleven years my life has been in danger every day because I tried to be helpful. Hundreds of revolutionaries with bombs in their pockets were caught because I told important people about them in time, and yet that pig made me go to the Embassy at eleven o’clock in the morning! Think of the danger! I tell you Winnie, I almost killed him but then I thought of you. He couldn’t go to the police either. You understand why, don’t you?’

‘No,’ Winnie said in a flat voice. ‘What are you talking about?’

Verloc was tired and disappointed with his wife. She was really acting very strangely. But he tried to smile and said. ‘You’ll have to be strong, my girl. What’s done is done. Go to bed now. You need to cry for a while.’

to be helpful. Hundreds of revolutionaries with bombs in their pockets were caught because I told important people about them in time, and yet that pig made me go to the Embassy at eleven o’clock in the morning! Think of the danger! I tell you Winnie, I almost killed him bu.t then I thought of you. He couldn’t go to the

police either. You understand why, don’t you?’

‘No,’ Winnie said in a flat voice. ‘What are you talking about?’

Verloc was tired and disappointed with his wife. She was really acting very strangely. But he tried to smile and said. ‘You’ll have to be strong, my girl. What’s done is done. Go to bed now. You need to cry for a while.’

But Winnie could not cry. Stevie’s terrible death had dried her eyes, and her heart had become like a piece of ice. She couldn’t forget - or forgive! On the white wall in front of her, she saw the past in pictures: she and Stevie in a dark bedroom, their violent father trying to push open the door; her mother cleaning, washing and cooking day after day. Finally she saw Verloc and Stevie walking along the street, away from her — like father and son. That had been less than two weeks ago.

Verloc looked hopefully at his wife who continued to stare at the white wall in front of her.

He said. ‘You'll have to be strong Winnie and look after the business while I’m away. It'll probably be for about two years. Then I'll let you know when it’s time to sell everything. No one must know what you are going to do, especially not the comrades. I don’t want a knife in my back as soon as I come out.’ He looked at his wife and added with a little worried laugh: ‘I like you too much for that.’

When Winnie heard these words, a little colour came into her white face. She got up suddenly and went  towards the stairs.

Verloc, watching her go, felt disappointed. Winnie never showed her feelings much, but surely this was different. Why couldn’t she be nice to him? He sighed and cut himself another piece of meat.

But Winnie could not cry. Stevie’s terrible death had dried her eyes, and her heart had become like a piece of ice. She couldn’t forget - or forgive! On the white wall in front of her, she saw the past in pictures: she and Stevie in a dark bedroom, their violent father trying to push open the door; her mother cleaning, washing and cooking day after day. Finally she saw Verloc and Stevie walking along the street, away from her — like father and son. That had been less than two weeks ago.

Verloc looked hopefully at his wife who continued to stare at the white wall in front of her.

He said. ‘You'll have to be strong Winnie and look after the business while I’m away. It'll probably be for about two years. Then I'll let you know when it’s time to sell everything. No one must know what you are going to do, especially not the comrades. I don’t want a knife in my back as soon as I come out.’ He looked at his wife and added with a little worried laugh: ‘I like you too much for that.’

When Winnie heard these words, a little colour came into her white face. She got up suddenly and went towards the stairs.

Verloc, watching her go, felt disappointed. Winnie never showed her feelings much, but surely this was different. Why couldn’t she be nice to him? He sighed and cut himself another piece of meat.

When Winnie came downstairs again, she was dressed in her coat and a hat with a black veil that covered her face. Verloc tried not to seem angry: ‘It’s twenty past eight, Winnie. Your mother will be in bed before you get there. This is the kind of news that can wait.’

In fact, Winnie had simply wanted to run away, to get out of the house. She was a free woman now, but what was she going to do now that she was free? She sat down suddenly on the nearest chair looking like a visitor who had come to visit for just a short while. Her silence made Verloc feel angrier. ‘Now look, Winnie,’

he said, ‘your place is here this evening. Take that hat off. I can’t let you go out tonight.’

No, he can’t let me go. Of course, he can’t, thought Winnie. Now that he has murdered Stevie. he will never let me go. He will want to keep me for ever.

Verloc finally shouted furiously at her.

‘Can’t you say something? You really know how to make a man angry. Oh, yes! I know your silences. I’ve seen them before today. But I’ve had enough. To begin with, take this thing off. I can’t tell if l’m talking to a woman or a dummy!’

He stepped forward and pulled off the veil. ‘That's better. Look Winnie, I tried to find someone else to do the job, but there was no one, don’t you understand? I'm not a murderer - it was an accident, he tripped over the root of a tree. And it’s your doing as much as mine. You asked me to take the boy out, again and again. Don’t make any mistake about it: you killed that boy as much as I did.’

Winnie had listened to these words in silence and without moving. Now she stood up like someone at the end of a visit and went towards her husband with one arm held out. Her veil had fallen down on one side of her face. But Verloc had moved away to the sofa without waiting to see his wife's face. He threw himself down heavily. One side of his open coat was lying partly on the ground. All he wanted was to go to sleep. As he made himself comfortable, he said, ‘I wish that I had never seen Greenwich Park or anything like it.’

As these words reached Winnie, her eyes seemed to grow larger.

A park! That’s where her brother had been killed! She let herself see the destruction, all the leaves and the pieces of his body among the small stones. They had picked him up with a shovel! She closed her eyes and saw everything flying into the air like a firework, then falling to the ground again. Stevie’s head was the last

thing to fall. For a minute it hung in the air like the last star of an exploding firework, then slowly it disappeared. At last, she opened her eyes.

Her face had changed. It was clear that she had decided to do something. But Verloc, lying on the sofa, had noticed nothing.

‘Winnie,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Come here.’

‘Yes,’ answered Winnie the free woman, in a soft low voice.

She knew what she had to do now. From where she stood, Verloc’s head and shoulders were hidden by the high side of the sofa. She kept her eyes fixed on his feet.

Verloc moved a little on the sofa to make room for his wife. Winnie came forward and as she passed the table she silently took the carving knife in her hand. Verloc, lying on his back, sawon the wall the moving shadow of an arm and a hand holding a huge knife. It moved slowly enough for him to recognize the arm and the knife. His wife had gone mad!

He had no time to move at all. Before he could do anything, the knife was already in his chest. After whispering the word ‘Don’t’, Verloc died.

Winnie let go of the knife and sighed deeply. She had killed her husband. The room seemed to move strangely around her, but she was calm. Resting against the sofa, she was as still as her husband’s body.

After a while, she lifted her head and looked slowly at the clock on the wall. She could hear a ticking sound but the clock had never ticked like that before. Tic, tic, tic. What was it? Her eyes travelled slowly down Verloc’s body until they arrived at the knife in his chest. Dark drops of blood were falling faster and faster onto the floor with the sound of a crazy clock. Blood!

Winnie cried out and ran to the door. The table was in her way and she pushed it violently with both hands. The big plate with the meat on it fell heavily to the floor taking with it Verloc’s hat.

Then everything became still. At the door, Winnie had stopped. She was staring at the round hat lying in the middle of the floor: it was rocking slowly from side to side.


                                                          (to be continued)

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