EX LIBRIS

VINTAGE CLASSICS
 ASHENDEN
William Somerset Maugham was born in 1874
and lived in Paris until he was ten. He was
educated at King's School, Canterbury, and at
Heidelberg University. He spent some time at St.
Thomas' Hospital with the idea of practising
medicine, but the success of bl first novel, Liza of
Lambeth, pubUsbed i11 1897, won him over to
letters. Of Human Bondage, the first of his
masterpieces, came out in 1915, and with the
publication in 1919 of The Moon and Sixpence his
reputation as a novelist was established. At the
same tii,ne his fame as a successful playwright and
short story writer was being consolidated with
acclaimed productions of various plays and the
publication of The Trembling of a Leaf, subtitled
Little Stories of the South Sea Islands, in 1921,
which was followed by seven more collections.
His other works include travel books, essays,
criticism and the autobiographical The Summing
Up and A Writer's Notebook.

In 1927 Somerset Maugham settled in the South

of France and lived there until his death in 1965.
 OTHER WORKS BY W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM
Novels Travel Writing
The Razor's Edge On a Chinese Screen
Of Human Bondage
The Moon and Sixpence
Don Fernando
The Gentleman in the Parlour
Ashenden
The Narrow Corner
Cakes and Ale Literary Criticism
The Merry-Go-Round . Ten Novels and their Authors
The Painted Veil Points of View
Catalina The Vagrant Mood
Up at the Villa
Mrs Craddock Autobiography
The Casuarina Tree The Summing Up
Christmas Holiday A Writer's Notebook
Liza of Lambeth
The Magician
Theatre
Then and Now

Collected Short Stories

Collected Short Stories Vol. 1
Collected Short Stories Vol. 2
Collected Short Stories Vol. 3
Collected Short Stories Vol. 4
Short Stories
Far Eastern Tales
M0re Far Eastern Tales
VINTAGE BOOKS
London
 , Published by Vintage 2000
21
Copyright © the Royal Literary Fund
W, Somerset Maugham has asserted hi right wider the opyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be ldentiflecl as the author of this work Preface
Tb1s book ls sold subject to the condition that it s6:1!1 not
hy wtty of trade or [Link]\:, b11 lent, resold, hl~ed out,
ot otbe~wise circularcd without the publisher's prior
coH e11t IJ1 any fora, of binding or cover other tbah thnt This book is founded on my experiences in the Intelli-
In which It Is published nnd without a sUnllar condltlon,
includfog this condition, beilljJ Imposed on the gence Department during the war, but rearranged for
subsequent purchaser the purposes of fiction. Pact is a poor story-teller. It
First published in Great Britain by William Heinemann in 1928 starts a story at haphazard, generally long before the
Vintage beginning, rambles on inconsequendy and tails off,
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1 V 2SA leaving loose ends hanging about, without a con•
www, [Link] clusion. It works up to an interesting situation, and
Addresses for [Link],anles within The llandom House Group Limited then leaves it in the air to follow an issue that has
can be foWld at: www.rando111h0LL~[Link],uk/offices,htm
The Random House Group Limited Reg, No, 954009
nothing to do with the point, it baa no sense of climax
A ClP catalogue record for this book and whitdes away its dramatic effects in irrelevance.
is available from the British Library There is a school of novelists that looks upon this as
ISBN 9780099289708 the proper model for fiction. If iifet they say, is arbt•
Penguin Random House is committed to a sustainable future for trary and disconnected, why, fiction should be so too,
our business, our readers and our planet, This book is made from for fiction should imitate life. In life things happen
Forest Stewardship Council" certified paper.
at random, and that is how they should happen in a
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~aper frott1
story, they do not lead to a climax, which is an out•
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rage to probability, they just go on. Nothing offends
these people more than the punch or the unexpected
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A. twist with which some writers seek to surprise their
readers, and when the circum11tances they relate seem
to tend towards a dramatic effect they do their best
to avoid it. They· do not give you a story, they give
V
you the material on which you can invep.t your own. when it is an integral part of the story and its logical
Sometimes it consists of an incident presented, you issue it is excellent. There is nothing wrong in a
might think, at haphazard, and you are invited to climax, it is a very natural demand of the reader, it
divine its significance. Sometimes they give you a is only wrong 'if it does not follow naturally from the
character and leave it at that. They give you the circumstances that have gone before. It is purely an
materials for a dish and expect you to do the cooking affectation to elude it because in life as a general rule
yourself. Now this is one way like another of writing things tail off ineffectively.
stories and some very good stories have been written For it i.s quite unnecessary to treat as axiomatic the
in it. Chekov used it with mastery. It is more suitable assertion that fiction should imitate life. It is merely
for the very short story than for the longer one. The a literary theory like another. There is in fact a second
description of a mood, an environment or an atmos- theory that is just as plausible, and this is that fiction
phere, can hold your attention for half a dozen pages, should use life merely as raw material which it
but when it comes to fifty a story needs a supporting arranges in ingenious patterns. You have a very good
skeleton. The skeleton of a story is of course its plot. analogy in painting. The landscape painters of the
Now a plot has certain characteristics that you seventeenth century were not ·interested in the direct
cannot get away from. It has a beginning, a middle representation of nature, which to them was no more
and an end. It is complete in itself, It starts with a than the occasion for a formal decoration. They con-
set of circumstances which have consequences, but structed a scene architecturally, balancing for exam-
of which the causes may be ignored; and these conse- . ple the mass of a tree with the mass of a cloud, and
quences, in their tum the cause of other circum- used light and shade to make a definite pattern. Their
stances, are pursued till a point is reached when the intention was not to portray a landscape but to create
reader is satisfied that they are the cause of no further a work of art. It was a deliberate composition. In their
consequences that need be considered. This means arrangement of the facts- of nature they were satisfied
that a story should begin at a certain point and end if they did not outrage the spectator's -sense of reality.
at a certain point. It should not wander along an It was left for the Impressionists to paint what they
uncertain line, but follow, from exposition to climax, saw. They tried to catch nature in its fleeting beauty,
a bold and vigorous curve. If you wanted to represent they were content to render the radiance of sunlight,
it diagrammatically you would draw a semicircle. It the colour of shadows or the translucency of the air.
is very well to have the element of surprise, and this They aimed at truth. They wanted a painter to be no
punch, this unexpected twist, which the imitators of more than an eye and a hand. They despised intelli-
Chekov despise, is only bad when it is badly done; gence. It is strange how empty their paintings look
vi vii
now when you place them beside the stately pictures has himself to make it coherent, dramatic and prob•
of Clsude. The method of Claude is the method of able.
that master of the short story Guy de Maupassant. It In 1917 I went to Russia. I was sent to prevent the
is a very good one and I have a notion that it will Bolshevik Revolution and to keep Russia in. the war.
survive the other. Already it is getting a little difficult The reader will know that my efforts did not meet
to care much what middle-class Russians were like with success.' I went to Petrograd from Vladivostock.
fifty years ago, and the anecdote in Chekov's stories One day, on the way through Siberia, the train stop-
is not as a rule absorbing enough (as the story of Paolo ped at some station and the passengers as usual got
and Francesca or of Macbeth is absorbing) to hold out, some to fetch water to make tea, some to buy
your attention apart from your interest in the people. food and others to stretch their legs. A blind soldier
The method of which I speak is that which chooses was sitting on a bench. Other soldiers sat beside him
from life what is curious, telling and dramatic 1 it does and more stood behind. There were from twenty to
not seek to copy life, but keeps to it closely enough thirty. Their uniforms were tom and stained. The
not to shock the reader into disbelief, it leaves out blind soldier, a big; vigorous fellow, was quite young.
this and changes that 1 it makes a formal decoration On his cheeks was the soft, pale down of a beard that
out of such of the facts as it has found convenient to has never been shaved. I daresay he wasn't eighteen.
deal with and presents a picture, the result of artifice, He had a broad face, with flat, wide features, and on
which, because it rtpresents the author's tempera- his forehead was a great scar of the wound that had
ment, is to a certain extent a portrait of himself, but lost him his ·sight. His closed eyes gave him a strang-
ely vacant look. He began to sing. His voice was
which is designed to excite, interest and absorb the
strong and sweet. He accompanied himself on an
reader. If it is a success he accepts it as true.
accordion. The train waited on and he sang song after
I have written all this in order to impress upon the
song. I could not understand his words, but through
reader that this book is a work of fiction, though I
his singing, wild and melancholy, I seemed to hear
should say not much more so than several of the the cry of the oppressed: I felt the lonely steppes
books on the same subject that have appeared during and the interminable forests, the flow of the broad
the last few years and that purport to be truthful Russian rivers and all the toil of the countryside, the
memoirs. The work of an agent in the Intelligence ploughing of the land and the reaping of the ripe com,
Department is on the whole extremely monotonous. the sighing of the wind in the birch trees, the long
A lot ,of it is uncommonly useless. The material it months of dark winter; and then the dancing of
offers for stories i.s scrappy and pointless, the author women in the villages and the youths bathing in
viii ix
shallow streams on summer evenings; I felt the
horror of war, the bitter nights in the trenches, the
long marches on muddy roads, the battlefield with
its terror and anguish and death. It was horrible and I R.
deeply moving. A cap lay at the singer's feet and the
passengers Blted it full of money, the same emotion
had seized th~m all, of boundless compassion and of It was not till the beginning of September that Ashen-
vague horror, for there was something in that blind, den, a writer by profession, who had been abroad at
scarred face that was terrifying; you felt that this was the outbreak of the war, managed to get back to Eng-
a being apart, sundered from the joy of this enchant- land. He chanced soon after his arrival to go to a party
ing world. He did not seem quite human. The soldiers and was there introduced to a middle-aged Colonel
stood silent 'and hostile. Their attitude seemed to whose name he did not catch. He had some talk with
claim as a right the alms of the travelling herd. There him. As he was about to leave this officer came up
was a disdainful anger on their side and unmeasurable to .him and. asked:
pity on ours; but no glimmering of a sepse that there 'I say, I wonder if you'd mind coming to see me.
was but one way to compensate that helpless man I'd rather like to have a chat with you.'
for all his pain. 'Certainly,' said Ashenden. ;Whenever you like.'
'What about to-morrow at elevenl'
'All right.'
'1111 just write down my address. Have you a card
on you?'
Ashenden gave him one and on this the Colonel
scribbled in pencil the name of a street and the
number of a house. When Ashenden walked along
next morning to keep his appointment be found him-
self in a street of rather vulgar red-brick houses in a
part of London that had once been fashionable, but
was now fallen in the esteem of the house-hunter
who wanted a good address. On the house at which
Ashenden had been asked to call there was a board
up to announce that it was for sale, the shutters were
X I
closed and there was no sign that anyone lived in it. 'You know you· ought to get material that would
He rang the bell and the door was opened by a non- be very useful to you in your work;'
commissioned officer so promptly that he was 'I shouldn't mind that,' said Ashenden.
startled. He was not asked his business, but led 'I'll tell you an incident that occurred only the
immediately into a long room at the back, once evi- other day and I can vouch for its truth. I thought at
dently a dining-room, the florid decoration of which the time it would make a damned good story. One of
looked oddly out of keeping with the office furniture, the French ministers went down to Nice to recover
shabby and sparse, that was in it. It gave Ashenden from a cold and he had some very important docu-
the impression of a room in which the brokers had ments with him that he kept in a dispatch-case. They
taken possession. The Colonel, who was known in were very important indeed. Well, a day or two after
the Intelligence Department, as Ashenden later dis- ,he arrived he picked up a yellow-haired lady at some
covered, by the letter R:, rose when he came in and restaU:Iant or other where there was dancing, and he
shook hands with him. He was a man somewhat got very friendly with her. To cut a long story short,
above the middle height, lean, with a yellow, deeply- he took her back to his hotel- of course it was a very
lined face, thin grey hair and a toothbrush moustache. imprudent thing to do - and when he came to himself
The thing immediately noticeable about him was the in the morning the lady and the dispatch-case had
disappeared. They had one or two drinks up in his
closeness with which his blue eyes were set. He only
room and his theory is that when his back was turned
just escaped a squint. They were hard and cruel eyes,
the woman slipped a drug into his glass.'
and very wary, and they gave him a cunning, shifty R. finished and looked at Ashenden with a gleam
look. Here was a man that you could neither like in his close-set eyes.
nor trust at first sight; His manner was pleasant and 'Dramatic, isn't it?' he asked.
cordial. 'Do you mean to say that happened the other day?'
He asked Ashenden a good many questions and 'The week before last.'
then, without further to-do, suggested that he had 'Impossible,' cried Ashenden. 'Why, we've been put-
particular qualifications for the secret service. Ashen- ting that incident on the stage for sixty years, we've
den was acquainted with several European languages written it in a thousand novels. Do you mean to say
and his profession was excellent cover, on the pretext that life has only just caught up with us?'
that he was writing a book he could without attract- R. was a trifle disconcerted.
ing attention visit any neutral country. It was while 'Well, if necessary, I could give you names and
they were discussing this point that R. said: dates; and believe me, the Allies have been put to no
.2 3
end of trouble by ~e loss of the documents that the
dispatch-case contained.' . .
'Well, sir, if you can't do better than that m the
secret service,' sighed Ashenden,_ 'I'm afraid. tha! ~s a 2 A Domiciliary Visit
source of inspiration to the wnter of fiction 1t s a
washout. We really can't write that story much
longer.' Ashenden was on his way back to Geneva. The night
It did not take them long to settle things and when was stormy and the wind blew cold from the moun-
Ashenden rose to go he had already made careful note tains, but the stodgy little steamer plodded sturdily
of,his instructions. He was to start for Geneva next through the choppy waters of the lake. A scudding
day. The last words that R. said to him, with a casual- rain, just turning into sleet, swept the deck in angry
ness that made them impressive, were: gusts, like a nagging woman who cannot leave a sub-
'There's just one thing I think you ought to know ject alone. Ashenden had been to France in order to
before you take on this job. And don't forget it. If you write and dispatch a report. A day or two before,
do well you'll get no thanks and if you get into about five in the afternoon, an Indian agent of his
trouble you'll get no help. Does that suit you?' had come to see him in his rooms; it was only by a
'Perfectly.' lucky chance that he was in, for he had no appoint-
'Then I'll wish you good afternoon.' ment with him, and the agent's instructions were to
come to the hotel only in a case of urgent importance.
He told Ashenden that a Bengali in the German ser·
vice had recently come from Berlin with a black cane
trunk in which were a number of documents interest-
ing to the British Government. At that time the Cen-
tral Powers were doing their best to foment such an
agitation in India as would make it necessary for
Great Britain to keep their troops in the country and
perhaps send others from France. It had been found
possible to get the Bengali arrested in Berne on a
charge that would keep him out of harm's way for .a
while, but the black cane trunk could not be found.
Ashenden's agent was a very brave and very clever
4 s
fellow and he mixed freely with such of his country- bell of the headquarters of the Intelligence Depart-
men as were disaffected to the interests of Great Brit- ment. His name was [Link] there but to one person,
ain. He had just discovered that the Bengali before and it was for him tha:t Ashenden asked. A tall tired-
going to Berne had, for greater safety, left the trunk looking man, whom he had not met before, came out
in the cloak-room at Zurich Station, and now that he and without a word led. him into an office. Ashenden
was in jail, awaiting trial, was unable to get the bull- told him his errand. The tall man looked at his watch.
etin by which it might be obtained into the hands of 'It's too late for us to do anything ourselves. We
any of his confederates. It was a matter of great couldn't possibly get to Zurich in time.'
urgency for the German Intelligence Department to He reflected.
secure the contents of the trunk without delay, and 'We'll put the Swiss authorities on the job. They
since it was impossible for them to get hold of it by can telephone, and when your friends attempt their
the ordinary official means, they had decided to break little burglary, I have no doubt they'll find the station
into the station that very night and steal it. It was a well guarded. Anyhow, you had better get back to
bold and ingenious scheme and Ashenden felt' a pleas- Geneva.'
ant exhilaration !for a great deal of his work was He shook hands with Ashenden and showed him
uncommonly dull) when he heard of it. He recognised out. Ashenden was well aware that he would never
the dashing and· unscrupulous touch of the head of know what happened then. Being no more than a tiny
the German secret ·service at Berne. But the burglary rivet in a vast and complicated machine, he never
was arranged for two o'clock on the following morn- had the advantage of seeing a completed action. He
ing and there was not a moment to lose. He could was concerned with the beginning or the end of it,
trust neither the telegraph nor the telephone to com- perhaps, or with some incident in the middle, but
municate with the British officer at Berne, and since what his own doings led to he had seldom a chance of
the Indian agent could not go (he was taking his life discovering. It was as unsatisfactory as those modem
in his hands by coming to see Ashenden and if he novels that give you a number of unrelated episodes
were noticed leaving his room it might easily be that and expect you by piecing them together to construct
he would be found one day floating in the lake with in your mind a connected narrative.
a knife-thrust in his back), there was nothing for it Notwithstanding his fur coat and his muffler, Ash·
but to go himself. enden was chilled to the bone. It was warm in the
There was a train to Berne that he could just catch saloon and there were good lights to read by, but he
and he put on his hat and coat as he ran downstairs. thought it better not to sit there in case some habitual
He jumped into a cab. Four hours later he rang the traveller, recognising him, wondered why he made
6 7
these constant journeys between Geneva in Switzer- gangway and waited to land. There was nothing on
land and Thonon in France, and so, making the best his passport to show that he had been in France; the
of what shelter could be found, he passed the tedious steamer went round the lake touching French soil at
time in the darkness of the deck. He looked in the two places, but going from Switzerland to Switzer-
direction of Geneva, but could see no lights, and the land, so that his journey might have been to Vevey
sleet, turning into snow, prevented him from recog- or to Lausanne, but he could never be sure that the
nising the landmarks. Lake Leman, on fine days so secret police had not taken note of him, and if he had
trim and pretty, artificial like a piece of water in a been followed and seen to land in France, the fact
French garden, in this temptestuous weather was as that there was no stamp on his passport would be
secret and as menacing as the sea. He made up his difficult to explain. Of course he had his story ready,
mind that, on getting back to his hotel, he would but he well knew that it was not a very convincing
have a [Link] lit in his sitting-room, a hot bath, and one, and though it might be impossible for the Swiss
dinner comfortably by. the fireside in pyjamas and a authorities to prove that he was anything but a casual
dressing-gown. The prospect of spending an evening traveller, he might nC!vertheless spend two or three
by himself with his pipe and a book was so agreeable days in jail, which would be uncomfortable, and then
that it made ,the misery of that journey across the be .ftrmly conducted to the frontier, which would be
lake positively worth while. Two sailors tramped past mortifying. The Swiss knew well that their country
him heavily, their heads bent down to save them- was the scene of all manner of intrigues, agents of
selves from the sleet that blew in their faces, and one the secret service, spies, revolutionaries and agitators
of them shouted to him: Nous arrivons; they went infested the hotels of the principal towns and, jealous
to the side and withdrew a bar to allow passage for of their neutrality, they were determined to prevent
the gangway, and looking again Ashenden through conduct that might embroil them with any of the
the howling darkness saw mistily the lights of the belligerent powers.
quay. A welcome sight. In two or three minutes the There were as usual two police officers on the quay
steamer was made fast and Ashenden, muffled to the to watch the passengers disembark and Ashenden,
eyes, joined· himself to the little knot of passengers walking past them with as unconcerned an air ashe
that waited to step ashore. Though he made the jour- could assume, was relieved when he had got safely
ney so often - it w,as his duty to cross the lake into by. The darkness swallowed him up and he stepped
France 01:ice a week to deliver his reports and to out briskly for his hotel. The wild weather with a
receive instructions - he had always a faint sense of scornful gesture had swept all the neatness from the
trepidation when he stood among the crowd at the trim promenade. The shops were closed and Ashen-
8 9
den passed only an occasional pedestrian who sidled Ashenden's heart sank, but he took care not to let
along, scrunched up, as though he fled from the blind his face betray his concern.
wrath of the unknown. You had a feeling in that 'I'll go up and see them,' he said. The liftman stood
bl!lck and bitter night that civilisation, ashamed of aside to let him step into the lift, but Ashenden shook
its artificiality, cowered before the fury of elemental his head. 'I'm so cold,' he said, 'I'll walk up.'
things. It was hail now that blew in Ashenden's face He wished to give himself a moment ·to think, but
and the pavement was wet and slippery so that he as he ascended the three flights slowly his feet were
had to walk with caution. The hotel faced the lake. like lead. There could be small doubt why two police
When he reached it and a page-boy opened the door officers were so bent upon seeing him. He felt on a
for him, he entered the hall with a flurry of wind that sudden dreadfully tired. He d;.d not feel he could cope
sent the papers on the porter's desk flying into the with a multitude of questions. And if he were arrested
as a secret agent he must spend at least the night in
air. Ashenden was dazzled by the light. He stopped
a cell. He longed more than ever for a hot bath and
to ask the porter if there were letters for him. There
a pleasant dinner by his fireside. He had half a mind
was nothin& and he was about to get into the lift
~o tum tail and walk out of the hotel, leaving every-
when the porter told him that two gentlemen were
thing behind him; he had his passport in his pocket
waiting in his room to see him. Ashenden had no
and he knew by heart the hours at which trains star-
friends in Geneva.
ted for the frontier: before the Swiss authorities had
'Ohl' he answered, not a little surprised. 'Who are
made up their minds what to do he would be in
theyl' safety. But he continued to trudge upstairs. He did
He had taken care to get on friendly terms with not like the notlon of abandoning his job so easily,
the porter and his tips for trifling services had been he had been sent to Geneva, knowing the risks, to do
generous. The porter gave a discreet smile. work of a certain kind, and it seemed to him that he
'There is no harm in telling you. I think they are had better go through with it. Of course it would not
members of the police.' be very nice to spend two years in a Swiss prison, but
'What do they wantl' asked Ashenden. the chance of this was, like assassination to kings,
'They did not say. They asked me where you were, one of the inconveniences of his profession. He
and I told them you had gone for a walk. They said reached the landing of the third floor and walked to
they would wait till you came back.' his room. Ashenden had in him, it seems, a strain of
'How long have they been there?' flippancy Ion account of which, indeed, the critics
'An hour.' had often reproached him) and as - he stood for a
IO II
 moment outside the door his predicament appeared and transmitted without delay to the proper places.
to him on a sudden rather droll. His spirits went up There was nothing he need fear in a search, but the
and he determined to brazen the thing out. It was impression that it had been made confirmed his sus-
with a genuine smile on his lips that he turned the picion that he had been denounced to the authorities
handle ~d entering the room faced his visitors. as a secret agent.
'Good evening, gentlemen,' said he. 'What can I do for you, gentlemen?' he asked
The room was brightly lit, for all the lights were affably. 'It's warm in here, wouldn't you like to take
on, and a fire burned in the hearth. The air was grey off your coats - and hats?'
with smoke, since the strangers, finding it long to It faintly irritated him that they should sit there
wait for him, had been smoking strong and inexpen· with their hats on.
sive cigars. They sat in their great•coats and bowler· 'We're only staying a minute,' said one of them.
hats as though they had only just that moment come 'We were passing and as the concierge said you would
in1'but the ashes in the little tray on the table would be in at once, we thought we would wait.'
alone have suggested that they had been long enough He did not remove his hat. Ashenden unwrapped
there to make themselves familiar with their sur• his scarf and disembarrassed himself of his heavy
roundings. They were two powerful men, with black coat.
moustaches, on the stout side, heavily built, and they 'Won't you have a cigar?' he asked, offering the box
reminded [Link] of Fafner and Fasolt, the giants to the two detectives in turn.
in The Rhinegold1 their clumsy boots, the massive 'I don't mind if I do,' said the first, Fafner, taking
way they sat in·their chairs and the ponderous alert• one, upon which the second, Fasolt, helped himself
ness of their ·expression, made it obvious that they without a word, even of thanks. _
were members of the detective force. Ashenden gave The name on the box appeared to have a singular
his room an enveloping glance. He was a neat crea- effect on their manners, for both now took off their
ture and saw at once that his things, though not -in hats.
disorder, were not as he had left them. He guessed 'You must have had a very disagreeable walk in
that an examination had been made of his effects. this bad weather,' said Fafper, as he bit half an inch
That did not disturb him, for he kept in his room no off the end of his cigar and spat it in the fire-place.
document that would compromise him; his code he Now it was Ashenden's principle (a good one in
had learned by heart and destroyed before leaving life as well as in the Intelligence Department) always
England, and such communications as reached him to tell as much of the truth as he conveniently could,
from Germany were [Link] to him by third parties so he answered as follows:
12 13

I
 'What do you take me forr I wouldn't go out in site to say it is better to hold your tongue, and when
such weather i£ I could help it. I had to go to Vevey a man has made a remark that calls to his mind for an
to~day to see an invalid friend and I came back by answer, he is apt to find silence a trifle disconcerting.
boat. It was bitter on the lake.' Ashenden waited for the detective to proceed. He was
'We come from the police,' said Fafner casually. not quite sure, but it seemed to him that he hesitated.
Ashenden thought they must consider him a per- 'It appears that there have been a good many com-
fect idiot i£ they imagined he had not long discovered plaints lately of the noise that people make when
that, but it was not a piece of information to which they come out of the Casino late at night. We wish
it was discreet to reply with a pleasantry. to know i£ you personally have been troubled by the
'Oh, really,' he said. disturbance. It is evident that as your rooms look on
'Have you your passport on youl' the lake and the revellers pass your windows, i£ the
'Yes. In these war-times I think a foreigner is wise noise is serious, you must have heard it.'
always to keep his passport on him.' · · For an instant Ashenden was dumbfounded. What
'Very wise.' balderdash was this the detective was talking to him
Ashenden handed the man the nice new passport, !boom, boom, he heard the big drum as the giant
gave no information about his movements other than lumbered on the scene), and why on earth should the
that he had come from London three months before chief of police send to him to find out if his beauty
and had since then crossed no frontier. The detective sleep had been disturbed. by vociferous gamblers? It
looked at it carefully and passed it on to his colleague. looked very like a trap. But nothing is so foolish as
'It appears to be all in order,' he said. to ascribe profundity to what on the surface is merely
Ashenden, standing in front of the fire to warm inept; it is a pitfall into which many an ingenuous
himself, a cigarette between his lips, made no reply. reviewer has fallen headlong. Ashenden had a confi-
He watched the detectives warily, but with an dent belief in the stupidity of the human animal,
expression, he flattered himself, of amiable uncon- which in the course of his life had stood him in good
cern. Fasolt handed back the passp9rt to Fafner, who , stead. It flashed across him that i£ the detective asked
tapped it reflectively with a thick forefinger. him such a question it was because he had no shadow
'The chief of police told us tc;, come here,' he said, of proof that he was engaged in any illegal practice.
and Ashenden was conscious that both of them now It was clear that he had been denounced, but no evi-
looked at him with attention, 'to make a few enquir- dence had been offered, and the search of his rooms
ies of you.' had been fruitless. But what a silly excuse was this
Ashenden knew that when you have nothing appo• to make for a visit and what a poverty of invention
14 IS
it showed! Ashenden immediately thought of three 'I notice by your passport that· you are an author,
reasons the detectives might have given for seeking monsieur,' he said.
an interview with him and he wished that he were Ashenden in reaction from his previous pertur·
on terms sufficiently familiar with them to make the bation was feeling exceedingly debonair and he
suggestions. This was really an insult to the intelli- answered with good humour:
gence. These men were even stupider than he 'It is true. It is a profession full of tribulation, but
thought, but Ashenden had always a soft comer in it has now and then its compensations.'
his heart for the stupid and now he looked upon them · 'La gloire,' said Pafner politely.
with a feeling of unexpected kindliness. He would 'Or shall we say notoriety?' hazarded Ashenden.
have liked to pat them gently. But he answered the 'And what are you doing in Geneva?'
question with gravity. The question was put so pleasantly that Ashenderi
'To tell you the truth, I am a very sound sleeper felt it behoved him to be on his guard. A police officer
(the result doubtless of a pure heart and an easy con- ·amiable is more dangerous to the wise than a police
science), and I have never heard a thing.' officer aggressive.
Ashenden looked at them for the faint smile that he 'I am writing a play,' said Ashenden.
thought his remark deserved, but their countenances He waved his hand to the papers on his table. Four
remained stolid. Ashenden, as well as an agent of the eyes followed his gesture. A casual glance told him
British Government, was a humorist, and he stifled that the detectives had looked and taken note of his
the beginnings of a sigh. He assumed a slightly manuscripts.
imposing air and adopted a more serious tone. 'And why should you write a play here rather than
'But even if I had been awakened by noisy people in your own country?'
I should not dream of complaining. At a time when Ashenden smiled upon them with even more affa-
there is so much trouble, misery and unhappiness in bility than before, since this was a question for which
the world, I cannot but think it very wrong to disturb he had long been prepared, and it was a relief to give
the amusement of persons who are lucky enough to the answer. He was curious to see how it would go
be able to amuse themselves.' down.
'En effet,' said the detective. 'But the fact remains 'Mais, monsieur, there is the war. My country is
that people have been disturbed and the chief of in a turmoil, h would be impossible to sit there
police thought the matter should be enquired into.' quietly and write a play.'
His colleague, who had hitherto preserved a silence 'Is it a comedy or a tragedy?'
that was positively sphinx-like, now broke it. 'Oh, a comedy, and a light one at that,' replied
16 17
 Ashenden. 'The artist needs peace and quietness. since then the cafe was unlikely to be crowded and
How do you expect him to preserve that detachment it chanced that on entering he saw but one man of
of spirit that is demanded by creative work unless he about the age he kQew Bernard to be. He was by
can have perfect tranquility? Switzerland has the himself and going up to him Ashenden casually put
good fortune to be neutral, and it seemed to me that to him the pre-arranged question. The pre-arranged
in Geneva I should find the very surroundings I answer was given, and sitting down beside him, Ash-
wanted.' enden ordered himself a Dubonnet. The spy was a
Fafner nodded slightly to Fasolt, but whether to stocky little fellow, shabbily dressed, with a bullet-
indicate that he thought Ashenden an imbecile or shaped head, close-cropped, fair, with shifty blue eyes
whether in sympathy with his desire for a safe retreat and a sallow skin. He did not inspire confidence, and
from a turbulent world, Ashenden had no means of but that Ashenden knew by experience how hard it
knowing. Anyhow the detective evidently came to was to find men willing to go into G~rmany he would
the conclusion that he could learn nothing more from have been surprised that his predecessor had engaged
talking to Ashenden, for his remarks grew now desul- him. He was a German-Swiss and spoke French with
tory and in a few minutes he rose to go. a strong accent. He immediately asked for his wages
When Ashenden, having warmly shaken their and these Ashenden passed over to him in an envel-
hands, closed the door behind the pair he heaved a ope. They were in Swiss francs. He gave a general
great sigh of relief. He turned on the water for his account of his stay in Germany and answered Ashend-
bath, as hot as he thought he could possibly bear it, en's careful questions. He was by calling a waiter and
and as he undressed reflected comfortably over his had found a job in a restaurant near one of the Rhine
escape. bridges, which gave him good opportunity to get the
The day before, an incident had occurred that had information that was required of him. His reasons for
left him on his guard. There was in his service a coming to Switzerland for a few days were plausible
Swiss, known in the Intelligence Department as and there could apparently be no difficulty in his
Bernard, who had recently come from Germany, and crossing the frontier on his return. Ashenden
Ashenden had instructed him to go to a certain cafe expressed his satisfaction with his behaviour, gave
desiring to see him, at a certain time. Since he had not him his orders and was prepared to finish the inter-
seen him before, so that there might be no mistake view.
he had informed him through an intermediary what 'Very good,' said Bernard. 'But before I go back to
question himself would ask and what reply he was Germany I want two thousand francs.'
to give. He chose the luncheon hour for the meeting, 'Do you?'
18 19
 'Yes, and I want them now, before you leave this 'You refuse to give me the money?'
ca£~. It's a sum I have to pay, and I've got to have it.' 'Certainly.'
'I'm afraid I can't give it to you.' The spy's manner, which at first had been obsequi-
A scowl made the man's face even more unpleasant ous, was now somewhat truculent, but he kept his
to look at than it was before. head and never for a moment raised his voice. Ashen-
'You've got to.' den could see that Bernard, however big a ruffian,
'What makes you think that?' was a reliable agent, and he made up his mind to
The spy leaned forward and, not raising his voice, suggest to R. that his salary should be raised. The
but speaking so that only Ashenden could hear, burst scene diverted him. A little way off two fat citizens ,
out angrily: of Geneva, with black beards, were playing dominoes,
'Do you think I'm going on risking my life for that and on the other side a young man with spectacles
beggarly sum you give me? Not ten days ago a man was with great rapidity writing sheet after sheet of an
was caught at Mainz and shot. Was that one of your immensely long letter. A Swiss family jwho knows,
men?' perhaps Robinson by name), consisting of a father
'We haven't got anyone at Mainz,' said Ashenden, and mother and four children, were sitting round a
carelessly, and for all he knew i~ was true. He had table making the best of two small cups of coffee.
been puzzled not to receive bi's usual communi- The caissiere behind the counter, an imposing bru-
cations from that place and Bernard's information nette with a large bust encased in black silk, was
might afford the explanation. 'You knew exactly reading the local paper. The surroundings made the
what you were to get when you took on the job, and melodramatic scene in which Ashenden was engaged
if you weren't satisfied you needn't have taken it. I perfectly grotesque. His own play seemed to him
have no authority to give you a penny more.' much more real.
'Do you see what I've got here?' said Bernard. Bernard smiled. His smile was not engaging.
He took a small revolver out of his pocket and 'Do you know that I have only to go to the police
fingered it significantly. and tell them about you to have you arrestedJ Do
'What are you going to do with it? Pawn it?' you know what a Swiss prison is like?'
With an angry shrug of the shoulders he put it back 'No, I've often wondered lately. Do you?'
in his pocket. Ashenden reflected that had he known 'Yes, and you wouldn'~ much like it.'
anything of the technique of the theatre Bernard One of the things that had bothered Ashenden was
would have been aware that it was useless to make the possibility that he would be arrested before he
a gesture that had no ulterior meaning. finished his play. He disliked the notion of leaving it
20 21
half done for an indefinite period. He did not know though not knowing in the least what was the result
whether he would be treated as a political prisoner of their conversation, felt that it behoved him to walk
or as a common criminal and he had a mind to ask out with dignity. He did so.
Beniard whether in the latter case (the only one And·now as he carefully put one foot into the bath,
Bernard was likely to know anything about) he would wondering if he could bear it, he asked himself what
be allowed writing materials. He was afraid Bernard Bernard had in the end decided on. The water was
would think the inquiry an attempt to laugh at him. just not scalding and he gradually let himself down
But he was feeling comparatively at ease and was able into it. On the whole it seemed to him that the spy
to answer Bernard's threat without heat. had thought it would be as well to go straight, and
'You could of course get me sentenced to two years' the source of his denunciation must be looked for
imprisonment.' elsewhere. Perhaps in the hotel itself. Ashenden lay
'At least.' back, ,nd as his body grew used to the heat of the
'No, that is the maximum, I understand, and I water gave a sigh of satisfaction.
think it is quite enough. I won't conceal from you 'Really,' he reflected, 'there are moments in life
that I should &d it extremely disagreeable. But not when all this to-do that has led from the primeval
nearly so disagreeable as you would.' slime to myself seems almost worth while.' .
'What could you do?' Ashenden could not but think he was lucky to have
'Oh, we'd get you somehow, And after all, the war wriggled out of the fix he had found himself in that
won't last for ever. You are a waiter, you want your afternoon. Had he been arrested and in due course
freedom of action. I promise you that if I get into any sentenced R., shrugging his shoulders, would merely
trouble, you will never be admitted into any of the have called him a damned fool and set about looking
allied countries for the rest of your life. I can't help for someone to take his place. Already Ashenden
thinking it would cramp your style.' knew his chief well enough to be aware that when
Bernard. did not reply, but looked down sulkily at he had told him that if he got into trouble he need
the marble-topped table. Ashenden thought this was look for no help he meant exactly what he said.
the moment to pay for the drinks and go.
'Think it over, Bernard,' he said. 'If you want to go
back to your job, you have your instructions, and
your usual wages shall be paid through the usual
channels.'
The spy shrugged his shoulders, and Ashenden,
22
 very astute detective who could imagine that if he
took the trouble to put his hand deep down between
those voluminous breasts of hers, he would find a
3 Miss King little piece of paper that would land in the dock an
honest old woman (who kept her son out of the tren-
ches by taking this risk) and an English writer
Ashenden, lying comfortably in his bath, was glad to approaching middle-age. Ashenden went to the
think that in all probability he would be able to finish market about nine when the housewives of Geneva
his play in peace. The police had drawn a blank and for the most part had done their provisioning, stopped
though they might watch him from now on with in front of the basket by the side of which, rain or
some care it was unlikely that they would take a wind, hot or cold, sat that indomitable creature and
further step until he had at least roughed out his third bounJlt half a pound of butter. She slipped the note
act. It behoved him to be prudent (only a fortnight into his hand when he was given change for ten francs
ago his colleague at Lausanne had been sentenced to and he sauntered away. His only moment of risk was
a term of imprisonment), but it would be foolish to when he walked back to his hotel with the paper in
be alarmed: his predecessor in Geneva, seeing him- his pocket, and after this scare he made up his mind
self, with an exaggerated sense of his own import- to shorten as much as possible the period during
ance, shadowed from morning till night, had been so which it could be found on him.
affected by the nervous strain that it had been found Ashenden sighed, for the water was no longer quite
necessary to withdraw him. Twice a week Ashenden so hot; he could not reach the tap with his hand
had to go to the market to receive instructions that ' nor could he tum it with his toes las every properly
were brought to him by an old peasant woman from regulated tap should tum) and if he got up enough to
French Savoy who sold butter and eggs. She came in add more hot water he· might just as well get out
with the other market-women and the search at the altogether. On the other hand he could not pull out
frontier was perfunctory. It was barely dawn when the plug with his foot in order to empty the bath and
they crossed and the officials were only too glad to so force himself to get out, nor could he find in him-
have done quickly with these chattering noisy self the will-power to step out of it like a man. He
women and get back to their warm fires and their had often heard people tell him that he possessed
cigars. Indeed this old lady looked so bland and inno- character and he reflected that people judge hastily
cent, with her corpulence, her fat red face, and her in the affairs of life because they judge on insufficient
smiling good-natured mouth, it would have been a evidence: they had never seen him in a hot, but dimin-
24 2 s
 ishingly hot, bath. His mind, however, wandered a certain humour in playing bridge with her. He gave
back to his play, and telling himself jokes and repar- the boy a message that he would be pleased to come
tees that he knew by bitter experience would never and proceeded slowly to don his evening clothes.
look so neat on paper nor sound so well on the stag~ The Baroness von Higgins was an Austrian, who
as they did then, he abstracted his mind from the fact on settling in Geneva during the first winter of the
that his bath was growing almost tepid, when he war, had found it convenient to make her name look
heard a knock at the door. Since he did not want as French as possible, She spoke English and French
anyene to enter, he had the presence of mind not to perfectly. Her surname, so far from Teutonic, she
say 'come in,' but the knocking was repeated. owed to her grandfather, a Yorkshire stable-boy, who
'Who is it?' he cried irascibly.· had been taken over to Austria by a Prince Blank-
'A letter.' enstein early in the nineteenth century. He had had
'Come in then. Wait a minute.' a charming and rom.µitic c~eer, a very good-looking ·
Ashenden heard his bedroom-door open and getting young man, he attracted the attention of one· of the
out of the bath flung a towel round him and went in. arch-duchesses and then. made such good use of his
A page-boy was waiting with a note. It needed only opportunities that he ended his life as a baron and
a verbal answer. It was from a lady staying in the minister plenipotentiary to an Italian court, The
hotel asking him to play bridge after dinner and was baroness, his only descendant, after ari unhappy mar-
signed in the continental f shion Baronne de Higgins. riage, the particulars of which she was fond of relating
Ashenden, longing for a cosy meal in his own room, to her acquaintance, had resumed her maiden name.
in slippers and with a book leaned up against a read- She mentioned not infrequently the fact that her
ing-lamp, was about to refuse when it occurred to grandfather had been an ambassador, but never that
him that under the circumstances it might be discreet he had been a stable-boy and Ashenden had learned
to show himself in the dining-room that night. It was this interesting detail from Vienna; for as he grew
absurd to suppose that in that hotel the news would friendly with her he had thought it necessary to get
not have spread that he had been visited by the police a few particulars about her past, and he knew among
and it would be as well to prove to his fellow-guests other things that her private income did not permit
that he was not disconcerted. It had passed through her to live on the somewhat lavish scale on which
his mind that it might be someone in the hotel who she was living in Geneva. Since she had so many
had denounced him and indeed the name of the sprigh- advantages for espionage, it was fairly safe to suppose
tly baroneas had not failed to suggest itself to him. If that an alert secret service had enlisted her services
it was she who had given him away there would be and Ashenden took it for granted that she was
2.6 27
engaged somehow on the same kind of work as him- den cast his eyes over the company. Most of the
self. It increased if anything the cordiality of his persons gathered were old friends by sight. At that
relations with her. time Geneva was a hot-bed of intrigue and its home
When he went into the dining-room it was already was the hotel at which Ashenden was staying. There
full. He sat down at his table and feeling jaunty after were Frenchmen there, Italians and Russians, Turks,
his adventure ordered himself lat the expense of the Rumanians, Greeks and Egyptians. Some had fled
British Government) a bottle of champagne. The their country, some doubtless represented it. There
baroness gave him a flashing, brilliant smile. She was was a Bulgarian, an agent of Ashenden's, whom for
a woman of more than forty, but in a hard and glitter- greater safety he had never even spoken to in Geneva,
ing manner extremely beautiful. She was a high-col- he was dining that night with two fellow-countrymen
oured blonde with golden hair of a metallic lustre, and in a day or so, if he was not killed in the interval,
lovely no doubt but not attractive, and Ashenden had might have a very interesting communication to
from the first reflected that it was not the sort of hair make. Then there was a little German prostitute,
you would like to find in your soup. She had fine with china;.blue eyes and a doll-like face, who made
features, blue eyes, a straight nose, and a pink and frequent journeys along the lake and up to Berne, and
white skin, but her skin was stretched over her bones in the exercise of her profession got little titbits of
a trifle tightly, she was generously d4collet,e and her information over which doubtless they pondered
white and ample bosom had the quality of marble. with deliberation in Berlin. She was of course of a
There was nothing in her appearance to suggest the different class from the baroness and hunted much
yielding tenderness that the susceptible find so allur- easier game. But Ashenden was surprised to catch
ing. She was magnificently gowned, but scantily sight of Count von Holzminden and wondered what
bejewelled, so that Ashenden, who knew something on earth he was doing there. This was the German
of these matters, concluded that the superior author- agent in Vevey and he came over to Geneva only on
ity had given her carte blanche at a dressmaker's but occasion. Once Ashenden had seen him in the old
had not thought it prudent or necessary to provide quarter of the city, with its silent houses and deserted
her with rings or pearls. She was notwithstanding so streets, talking at a comer to a man whose appearance
showy that but for R. 's story of the minister, Ashen- very much suggested the spy and he would have given
den would have thought the sight of her alone must a great deal to hear what they said to one another. It
have aroused in anyone on whom she desired to exer- had amused him to come across the Count, for in
cise her wiles, the sense of prudence. London before the war he had known him fairly well.
While he waited for his dinner to be served, Ashen- He was of great family and indeed related to the
28 29
 Hohenzollems. He was fond of England, he danced great secrecy had passed three days at the hotel and
well, rode well and shot well, people said he was the pair of .them had held constant meetings in the
more inglish than the English. He was a t411, thin Prince's apartments. He was a little fat man with a
fellow, in well-cut clothes, with close-cropped Prus- heavy black moustache. He was living with his two
sian head, and that peculiar be11d of the body daughters and a certain Pasha, Mustapha by name,
though he were just about to bow to a royalty that who was his secretary and managed his affairs. The
you feel, rather than see, in those who have spent four of them were now dining together; they drank a
their lives about a court. He had charming manners great deal of champagne, but sat in a stolid silence.
and was much interested in the Pine Arts. But now The two princesses were emancipated young women
Ashenden and he preteQded they had never seen one who spent their nights dancing in restaurants with
another before. Each of course knew· on what work the bloods of Geneva. They were short and stout,
the other was engaged and Ashenden had had a mind with fine black eyes and heavy sallow faces; and they
to chaff him about it - it seemed absurd when he had were dressed with a rich loudnes11 that suggested the
dined with a man off and on for years and played Fish-market at Cairo rather than the Rue de la Paix.
cards with him, to act as though he did not know His Highness usually ate upstairs but the princesses
him from Adam - but refraJned in case the German dined every evening in the public dining-room: they
looked upon his behaviour as further proof of the were chaperoned vaguely by a little old English-
British frivolity in face of war. Ashenden was per- woman, a Miss King, who had been their governess,
plexed. Holzminden had never set foot in that hotel but she sat at a table by herself and they appeared to
before and it was unlikely that he had done so now pay no attention to her. Once Ashenden, going along
without good reason. a corridor, had come upon the elder of the two fat
Ashenden asked himself whether this event had princesses berating the governess in French with a
anything to do with the unusual presence in the violence tha'.t took his breath away. She was shouting
dining-room of Prince Ali, At that juncture it was at the top of her voice and suddenly smacked the old
imprudent to ascribe any occurrence, however acci- woman's face. When she caught sight of Ashenden
dental it looked, ·to the hazard of coincidence. Prince she gave him a furious look and flinging into her
Ali was an Egyptian, near relation of the Khedive, room slammed the door. He walked on as though he
who had fled his country when the Khedive was had noticed nothing.
deposed. He was a bitter enemy of the English and On his arrival Ashenden had tried to scrape
was known to be actively engaged in stirring up acquaintance with Miss King, but she had received
trouble in Egypt, The week before, the Khedive in his advances not merely with frigidity but with churl-
. 30
31