CHAPTER I
Mr Verloc 0
, going out in the morning , left
his 0
shop 1
nominally in charge of
his 0
brother-in-law 51
.
It could be done , because there was very little business at any time , and practically none at all before the evening .
Mr Verloc 0
cared but little about
his 0
ostensible business .
And , moreover ,
his 0
wife 2
was in charge of
his 0
brother-in-law 51
.
The shop 1
was small , and so was
the house 3
.
It 3
was
one of
those grimy brick houses which existed in large quantities before the era of reconstruction dawned upon
London 5
4
82
.
The shop 1
was
a square box of a place 75
, with the front glazed in small panes .
In the daytime the door remained closed ; in the evening it stood discreetly but suspiciously ajar .
The window contained photographs of
more or less undressed dancing girls 6
; nondescript packages in wrappers like patent medicines ; closed yellow paper envelopes , very flimsy , and marked two-and-six in heavy black figures ; a few numbers of ancient French comic publications hung across a string as if to dry ; a dingy blue china bowl , a casket of black wood , bottles of marking ink , and rubber stamps ; a few books , with titles hinting at impropriety ; a few apparently old copies of obscure newspapers , badly printed , with titles like _ The Torch _ , _ The Gong _ — rousing titles .
And the two gas jets inside the panes were always turned low , either for economy ’s sake or for the sake of
the customers 7
.
These customers 8
were either
very young men , who hung about the window for a time before slipping in suddenly 9
; or
men of a more mature age 10
, but looking generally as if
they 10
were not in funds .
Some of that last kind 11
had the collars of
their 11
overcoats turned right up to
their 11
moustaches , and traces of mud on the bottom of
their 11
nether garments , which had the appearance of being much worn and not very valuable .
And the legs inside them did not , as a general rule , seem of much account either .
With
their 11
hands plunged deep in the side pockets of
their 11
coats ,
they 11
dodged in sideways , one shoulder first , as if afraid to start the bell going .
The bell , hung on the door by means of a curved ribbon of steel , was difficult to circumvent .
It was hopelessly cracked ; but of an evening , at the slightest provocation , it clattered behind
the customer 12
with impudent virulence .
It clattered ; and at that signal , through the dusty glass door behind the painted deal counter ,
Mr Verloc 0
would issue hastily from
the parlour 13
at the back .
His 0
eyes were naturally heavy ;
he 0
had an air of having wallowed , fully dressed , all day on an unmade bed .
Another man 14
would have felt such an appearance a distinct disadvantage .
In a commercial transaction of the retail order much depends on
the seller 15
’s engaging and amiable aspect .
But
Mr Verloc 0
knew
his 0
business , and remained undisturbed by any sort of æsthetic doubt about
his 0
appearance .
With a firm , steady-eyed impudence , which seemed to hold back the threat of some abominable menace ,
he 0
would proceed to sell over the counter some object looking obviously and scandalously not worth the money which passed in the transaction : a small cardboard box with apparently nothing inside , for instance , or one of those carefully closed yellow flimsy envelopes , or a soiled volume in paper covers with a promising title .
Now and then it happened that one of the faded , yellow dancing girls would get sold to
an amateur 16
, as though she had been alive and young .
Sometimes it was
Mrs Verloc 2
who would appear at the call of the cracked bell .
Winnie Verloc 2
was
a young woman with a full bust , in a tight bodice , and with broad hips 81
.
Her 2
hair was very tidy .
Steady-eyed like
her 2
husband 0
,
she 2
preserved an air of unfathomable indifference behind the rampart of the counter .
Then
the customer of comparatively tender years 17
would get suddenly disconcerted at having to deal with
a woman 18
, and with rage in
his 17
heart would proffer a request for a bottle of marking ink , retail value sixpence ( price in
Verloc 0
’s shop 1
one-and-sixpence ) , which , once outside ,
he 17
would drop stealthily into the gutter .
The evening visitors 19
the men with collars turned up and soft hats rammed down 76
— nodded familiarly to
Mrs Verloc 2
, and with a muttered greeting , lifted up the flap at the end of the counter in order to pass into
the back parlour 20
, which gave access to
a passage 21
and to
a steep flight of stairs 22
.
The door of
the shop 1
was the only means of entrance to
the house in which
Mr Verloc 0
carried on
his 0
business of
a seller of shady wares 23
3
, exercised
his 0
vocation of
a protector of society 24
, and cultivated
his 0
domestic virtues .
These last were pronounced .
He 0
was thoroughly domesticated .
Neither
his 0
spiritual , nor
his 0
mental , nor
his 0
physical needs were of the kind to take
him 0
much abroad .
He 0
found at
home 3
the ease of
his 0
body and the peace of
his 0
conscience , together with
Mrs Verloc 2
’s wifely attentions and
Mrs Verloc 2
’s mother 25
’s deferential regard .
Winnie 2
’s mother 25
was
a stout , wheezy woman 77
, with a large brown face .
She 25
wore a black wig under a white cap .
Her 25
swollen legs rendered
her 25
inactive .
She 25
considered
herself 25
to be of French descent , which might have been true ; and after a good many years of married life with
a licensed victualler of the more common sort 26
,
she 25
provided for the years of widowhood by letting
furnished apartments for
gentlemen 27
near
Vauxhall Bridge Road 28
in
a square 29
once of some splendour and still included in
the district of Belgravia 30
41
.
This topographical fact was of some advantage in advertising
her 25
rooms 31
; but
the patrons of
the worthy widow 25
32
were not exactly of the fashionable kind .
Such as
they 32
were ,
her 25
daughter 2
Winnie 2
helped to look after
them 32
.
Traces of the French descent which
the widow 25
boasted of were apparent in
Winnie 2
too .
They were apparent in the extremely neat and artistic arrangement of
her 2
glossy dark hair .
Winnie 2
had also other charms :
her 2
youth ;
her 2
full , rounded form ;
her 2
clear complexion ; the provocation of
her 2
unfathomable reserve , which never went so far as to prevent conversation , carried on on
the lodgers 33
’ part with animation , and on hers with an equable amiability .
It must be that
Mr Verloc 0
was susceptible to these fascinations .
Mr Verloc 0
was
an intermittent patron 78
.
He 0
came and went without any very apparent reason .
He 0
generally arrived in
London 5
( like the influenza ) from
the Continent 34
, only
he 0
arrived unheralded by the Press ; and
his 0
visitations set in with great severity .
He 0
breakfasted in bed , and remained wallowing there with an air of quiet enjoyment till noon every day — and sometimes even to a later hour .
But when
he 0
went out
he 0
seemed to experience a great difficulty in finding
his 0
way back to
his 0
temporary home in
the Belgravian square 29
35
.
He 0
left
it 35
late , and returned to
it 35
early — as early as three or four in the morning ; and on waking up at ten addressed
Winnie 2
, bringing in the breakfast tray , with jocular , exhausted civility , in the hoarse , failing tones of
a man who had been talking vehemently for many hours together 36
.
His 0
prominent , heavy-lidded eyes rolled sideways amorously and languidly , the bedclothes were pulled up to
his 0
chin , and
his 0
dark smooth moustache covered
his 0
thick lips capable of much honeyed banter .
In
Winnie 2
’s mother 25
’s opinion
Mr Verloc 0
was
a very nice gentleman 79
.
From
her 25
life ’s experience gathered in various
“ business houses ” 37
the good woman 25
had taken into
her 25
retirement an ideal of gentlemanliness as exhibited by
the patrons of
private-saloon bars 39
38
.
Mr Verloc 0
approached that ideal ;
he 0
attained it , in fact .
“ Of course ,
we 40
’ll take over
your 25
furniture ,
mother 25
, ”
Winnie 2
had remarked .
The lodging-house 42
was to be given up .
It seems it would not answer to carry it on .
It would have been too much trouble for
Mr Verloc 0
.
It would not have been convenient for
his 0
other business .
What
his 0
business was
he 0
did not say ; but after
his 0
engagement to
Winnie 2
he 0
took the trouble to get up before noon , and descending
the basement stairs 43
, make
himself 0
pleasant to
Winnie 2
’s mother 25
in
the breakfast-room 44
downstairs 45
where
she 25
had
her 25
motionless being .
He 0
stroked the cat , poked the fire , had
his 0
lunch served to
him 0
there 44
.
He 0
left
its 44
slightly stuffy cosiness with evident reluctance , but , all the same , remained out till the night was far advanced .
He 0
never offered to take
Winnie 2
to
theatres 46
, as
such a nice gentleman 47
ought to have done .
His 0
evenings were occupied .
His 0
work was in a way political ,
he 0
told
Winnie 2
once .
She 2
would have ,
he 0
warned
her 2
, to be very nice to
his 0
political friends 48
.
And with
her 2
straight , unfathomable glance
she 2
answered that
she 2
would be so , of course .
How much more
he 0
told
her 2
as to
his 0
occupation it was impossible for
Winnie 2
’s mother 25
to discover .
The married couple 40
took
her 25
over with the furniture .
The mean aspect of
the shop 1
surprised
her 25
.
The change from
the Belgravian square 29
to
the narrow street in
Soho 50
49
affected
her 25
legs adversely .
They became of an enormous size .
On the other hand ,
she 25
experienced a complete relief from material cares .
Her 25
son-in-law 0
’s heavy good nature inspired
her 25
with a sense of absolute safety .
Her 25
daughter 2
’s future was obviously assured , and even as to
her 25
son 51
Stevie 51
she 25
need have no anxiety .
She 25
had not been able to conceal from
herself 25
that
he 51
was a terrible encumbrance ,
that poor Stevie 51
.
But in view of
Winnie 2
’s fondness for
her 2
delicate brother 51
, and of
Mr Verloc 0
’s kind and generous disposition ,
she 25
felt that
the poor boy 51
was pretty safe in
this rough world 52
.
And in
her 25
heart of hearts
she 25
was not perhaps displeased that
the Verlocs 40
had
no children 53
.
As that circumstance seemed perfectly indifferent to
Mr Verloc 0
, and as
Winnie 2
found an object of quasi-maternal affection in
her 2
brother 51
, perhaps this was just as well for poor
Stevie 51
.
For
he 51
was difficult to dispose of ,
that boy 51
.
He 51
was delicate and , in a frail way , good-looking too , except for the vacant droop of
his 51
lower lip .
Under
our 54
excellent system of compulsory education
he 51
had learned to read and write , notwithstanding the unfavourable aspect of the lower lip .
But as
errand-boy 51
he 51
did not turn out a great success .
He 51
forgot
his 51
messages ;
he 51
was easily diverted from the straight path of duty by the attractions of stray cats and dogs , which
he 51
followed down
narrow alleys 55
into
unsavoury courts 56
; by the comedies of
the streets 57
, which
he 51
contemplated open-mouthed , to the detriment of
his 51
employer 58
’s interests ; or by the dramas of fallen horses , whose pathos and violence induced
him 51
sometimes to shriek pierceingly in a crowd , which disliked to be disturbed by sounds of distress in its quiet enjoyment of the national spectacle .
When led away by
a grave and protecting policeman 59
, it would often become apparent that
poor Stevie 51
had forgotten
his 51
address — at least for a time .
A brusque question caused
him 51
to stutter to the point of suffocation .
When startled by anything perplexing
he 51
used to squint horribly .
However ,
he 51
never had any fits ( which was encouraging ) ; and before the natural outbursts of impatience on the part of
his 51
father 26
he 51
could always , in
his 51
childhood ’s days , run for protection behind the short skirts of
his 51
sister 2
Winnie 2
.
On the other hand ,
he 51
might have been suspected of hiding a fund of reckless naughtiness .
When
he 51
had reached the age of fourteen
a friend of
his 51
late father 26
60
,
an agent for
a foreign preserved milk firm 61
80
, having given
him 51
an opening as
office-boy 51
,
he 51
was discovered one foggy afternoon , in
his 51
chief 62
’s absence , busy letting off fireworks on
the staircase 63
.
He 51
touched off in quick succession a set of fierce rockets , angry catherine wheels , loudly exploding squibs — and the matter might have turned out very serious .
An awful panic spread through
the whole building 64
.
Wild-eyed , choking clerks 65
stampeded through
the passages 66
full of smoke , silk hats and
elderly business men 67
could be seen rolling independently down
the stairs 68
.
Stevie 51
did not seem to derive any personal gratification from what
he 51
had done .
His 51
motives for this stroke of originality were difficult to discover .
It was only later on that
Winnie 2
obtained from
him 51
a misty and confused confession .
It seems that
two other office-boys in
the building 64
69
had worked upon
his 51
feelings by tales of injustice and oppression till
they 69
had wrought
his 51
compassion to the pitch of that frenzy .
But
his 51
father 26
’s friend 60
, of course , dismissed
him 51
summarily as likely to ruin
his 60
business 70
.
After that altruistic exploit
Stevie 51
was put to help wash the dishes in
the basement kitchen 71
, and to black the boots of
the gentlemen patronising
the Belgravian mansion 35
72
.
There was obviously no future in such work .
The gentlemen 73
tipped
him 51
a shilling now and then .
Mr Verloc 0
showed
himself 0
the most generous of
lodgers 74
.
But altogether all that did not amount to much either in the way of gain or prospects ; so that when
Winnie 2
announced
her 2
engagement to
Mr Verloc 0
her 2
mother 25
could not help wondering , with a sigh and a glance towards the scullery , what would become of
poor Stephen 51
now .