"Who is it?" " Hugo." "Hugo Barine." "Don't you recognize my voice?" "Come on, open up!" "It's me." "You're surprised?" "It's your appearance." " Yes, I've changed." "You recognize me?" "Absolutely sure?" "Then you can put that away." "I thought you got eight years." " Well, yes." "I did get eight years." "Did you escape?" " Escape?" "I'm not crazy." "They had to push me out bodily." "I was released for good behavior." "Are you hungry?" " You'd like me to be, wouldn't you?" "Why should I?" " When a man is eating, he seems harmless." "I'm sorry, I'm neither hungry nor thirsty." "My typewriter?" " Sold." "Ah!" "It's empty!" " What's empty?" " This place." "Back there, when I put out my arms, I could touch both walls at once." "It feels funny to be free." "It makes me dizzy." "When were you released?" " Just now." "You came straight here?" " Where else?" "You didn't talk to anyone?" " No, Olga." "No." "Relax." "They didn't shave your head." "No." "Aren't you glad to see me?" "I'm not sure." "If it's true that they let you go, you don't have to be afraid." "You think not?" "How's Louis?" "O.K. He's Secretary of the Treasury." "I thought as much." "I don't know why I got into the habit of thinking him as dead." "There must have been changes." "It has become much easier since the Americans came." "When did they come?" "Four years ago." "Supposedly they were going on to Hungary, but decided to stay." "There are new comrades?" "Yes." " Young ones?" "Many." "We are less strict." "But the line is the same?" "Precisely the same." "Did you ever talk about me?" "Sometimes." "One night they came on their bikes, as in my day; they'd sit around the table." "Louis was stuffing his pipe and somebody would say: " ""It was just on a night like this the kid asked for his special permission."" "Something like that." "And you would say: " ""The kid did the job cleanly without compromising anyone."" "Yes, yes." " And then you said to yourselves: " ""He still has three years to serve, and when he gets out,   he'll be shot down like a dog for his troubles!"" "You're crazy!" " Did they have you send me the chocolates?" "What chocolates?" "The brandied chocolates in a pink box." "For six months I received regular packages." "It made me happy." "Then the shipments stopped and I thought, "they are forgetting about me."" "Three months ago another package arrived, - with cigarettes and chocolates." "I smoked the cigarettes, my cell-mate ate the chocolates." "The poor man got sick and died." "Then I thought:" ""They haven't forgotten me."" "You talk too much, Hugo." " I know it only too well." "Why did you come here?" "You couldn't shoot me." "At least I don't think so." "Who's there?" " Charles." "Who is Charles?" " One of our men." "Where is he?" " Who?" " The guy." "He's been tailed since prison." "Isn't he here anymore?" "He's here." " Where?" "There." "No!" "It won't take long, Olga." "You can take a walk if you feel like it." "When you come back, there'll be nobody here and no traces." "The kid will clean up." "Louis sent you?" " Yes." "Where is he?" " In the car." " Go get him." "Go on!" "I tell you to go get him." "What's got into you?" "Why don't you let them do their job?" "You are in too much of a hurry." " In too much of a hurry?" "Send them away." "Wait in the car." "Come if I call." "Well?" "What have you to tell me?" "Louis, he worked for us." "Don't be a child, Olga." "He is dangerous." "He must not talk." " He won't talk." "Him?" "That damned chatterbox!" "We have lost many comrades since the Americans came." "We can't get rid of him without finding out whether he is salvageable or not." "Salvageable?" "He's a useless, stupid anarchist." "An intellectual who thought only of striking an attractive pose." "A bourgeois who worked when it pleased him, - and stopped at the slightest whim." "He is also the guy who at twenty shot down Hoederer despite his bodyguards   and disguised a political assassination as a crime of passion." "That story stinks." "I don't have the time to conduct an examination." " I have the time." "I think you have too much personal feeling mixed in this affair." "Likewise." "Have you ever known me to put my feelings first?" "I don't give a damn about his life." "The party cannot take him back." "Not any more." "You know that perfectly well." "He worked under an assumed name, nobody knew him, - except Laurent who is dead, and Dresden, who is in China." "What do you suggest?" "What time is it?" "Eleven o'clock." "Come back at midnight." "I shall know by then   why he killed Hoederer, and what he is today." "And if he isn't salvageable?" "I'll let you in." "Don't you have men around the house?" " Yes, four of them." "Let them stay there." "All right." "See you at midnight." "You have a strange look." "What did they want?" " They were looking for you." "And you told them I was here?" "I swear I did not." "That was nice of you." "Very well." " Don't go!" "A lot can happen in one night." "What do you expect to happen?" "Things can change." "What?" "You." "Me." "Darling!" "Pig!" "You got it all wrong." "But I thought..." "Why don't you come in with us again?" "You picked just the right moment to ask me that." "What if this whole affair were due to a misunderstanding?" "Didn't you ever think about what you would do when you got out?" "No." "What did you think of?" "About what I had done." "I tried to understand why I did it." "And did you come to understand?" "Why did you do it?" "It is true that Jessica was at the bottom of it?" "Yes." "Then it was out of jealousy that..." " I don't know." "Tell me." "What?" "Everything." "From the beginning." "You know the beginning as well as I do." "Everything began in March 1943." "I had recently joined the underground Proletarian Party." "I worked here." "We were joint editors of the party newspaper, as I'm sure you remember." "Couldn't you stop typing?" "Why?" "It gets on my nerves." "You don't seem the nervous type." "I'm not!" "But right now it bothers me." "Can't you talk to me?" "Gladly." "What's your name?" "In the underground I'm known as Ivan." "What's yours?" " Raskolnikov." "What a name!" "It's my name in the party." "Where'd you dig that up?" "It's some guy in a novel." "What does he do?" "He kills." "And you?" "Have you ever killed?" "No." " Oh, really?" "What's with you?" "Nothing." " You're not feeling well." "I'm always like this just before." "Before what?" " Never mind." "When I'm on my bike I'll feel better." "I'm too easy-going." "If I didn't have to, I wouldn't hurt a fly." "Here it is." "Can you tie it on your baggage-carrier?" " Yes." "You can beat it now." "They're expecting you at the dam and the house." "Good luck." "Aren't you going to kiss me?" "Sure." "Good-by, Raskolnikov." "Good-by." "Where's he going to?" "It's no business of yours." "He's going to bomb the bridge?" "If something goes wrong, you're better off not knowing." "But you know?" " Yes." "Of course." "You could keep your mouth shut." "You're like Louis." "You'd die before you talk." "What makes you think I would talk?" "How will you ever be able to trust me if you don't put me to the test?" "The party isn't a night school." "Do you know how to loosen railroad tracks?" "No." " You see." "Is Louis there?" " Yes." "And Hoederer?" " I suppose so." "Just who is he?" "He was a Member of the Parliament." "Now he's general secretary of the party." "Hoederer is not his real name." "What a racket!" "They must be squabbling." "Hoederer called the committee here to vote on a proposition." "What proposition?" "I don't know." "I only know that Louis is against it." "If he's against it, then I am, too." "I don't even have to know what the proposal is." "Olga, you've got to help me." "How?" "By convincing Louis that he should give me something real to do." "You run risks, too." "Not the same thing." "Olga, I have no wish to live." "A man who doesn't want to live can do many things," "Was that Hoederer?" "Yes." "It's all over." "Well?" "The dirty bastards!" "It was put to a vote?" " Yes." "He is authorized to begin negotiations." "To ask for an offer." "When is the next meeting?" " In ten days." "That gives us more than a week." "Hugo." "I may have some work for you." "You know him better than I do." "What's he worth?" "He's reliable." "You don't think he'd get cold feet?" "Absolutely not." "Has Ivan gone?" " Yes." "We should be able to hear the explosion from here." "It seems you want to act?" " Yes." "Why?" " Just because." "Excellent." "Only you can't do anything with your hands." "Let's drop the subject, then." "I'll find something for you to do." "You really trust me?" "It depends on you." "Louis." "I shall do whatever you want." "Here is the situation: " " On one side there is the fascist government of the Regent,   which has lined itself up with the Axis." "on the other side there is our party, fighting for freedom." "And then the bourgeois in the middle." "Three groups with irreconcilable interests." "Three groups who hate each other." "Hoederer had us meet tonight,   because he wants the Proletarian Party to join forces with the others,   in order to share power with them after the war." "What do you think of that?" "You're pulling my leg." "Why?" "Because it's too idiotic." "And yet that's just what we've been discussing here for three hours." "What would you do if the majority came out in favor of conciliation?" "I would get hold of a bomb, and - go downtown to kill a cop, or with a bit of luck, a soldier." "Then I would wait beside the body to see what would happen." "But it can't be true." "The Committee has accepted Hoederer's proposal." "Four votes to three." "He is to meet with the Regent's men next week." "Has he sold out?" "I don't know." "Objectively he is a traitor." "That's all that concerns me." "Are you with us?" "Olga and you have taught me all I know." "To me, you are the Party." "Good." "You get the situation." "Last week Hoederer asked the party to furnish him with a secretary." "A married one." "You are married, right?" "Yes, I am." "Do you accept?" "Excellent." "You can leave tomorrow with your wife." "Your job will be to spy on him." "On the night we set, you will open the door   to three comrades who will finish the job." "There'll be a car on the road and you can escape with your wife." "So that's it?" "That's all you think I can handle?" "You don't agree?" " No." "This is what I propose: " "I'll do the job myself." "You?" " Me." "He did it." "Before a week has passed you will be here, waiting to hear from me." "You'll speak of me." "I'll mean something to you then." "You will ask yourselves:" ""What's he doing?"" "The phone will ring." "You will smile the way you are smiling now." "You will say: "He did it."" "It went on endlessly." "Were you very bored?" " Yes." "What did you do?" " I slept." "Time doesn't hang heavy when you sleep." " I dreamed that I was bored, " "That woke me up." "Then I unpacked the suitcases." "What do you think of him?" " Who?" " Hoederer." "Like anybody else." " Tall or short?" "Medium." "Any unusual features?" "A big scar, a wig, and a glass eye." "You're lying because you couldn't describe him to me." " Of course I could!" "No, you couldn't." "What color are his eyes?" " Gray." "What color are mine?" "Don't look." "They are two silkmoths, two Andalusian landscapes." "What color are they?" " Blue." "You guessed." "No, you told me this morning." "Idiot." "Has he a mustache?" "No, but he wore a polka-dot tie." "You avoided his eyes." "All the while he was talking to you, you were looking at his tie." "He intimidated you!" "He's not intimidating." "Then why did you look at his tie?" " So as not to get intimidated." "Wonderful!" "Did he ask anything about me?" " No, nothing, Jessica." "He has no manners." "You see." "Anyway, there's no use your being interested in him now." " Why?" "He's going to die." "Is he sick?" " No." "He's going to be assassinated, - like all men in politics." "You're blabbering." "Can I resume unpacking?" "Go ahead!" "Give me the key to that one." " No!" "I'll unpack it myself." " Why?" "What's in it?" "I won't tell!" "Who cares!" "Don't tell me, then." "Twelve pictures of yourself!" "You are a narcissist, dear Hugo." "And this." " Give it to me, you witch!" "What's it doing here?" "I always have a gun with me." "You're lying." "Why did you buy a weapon?" "Do you really want to know?" " Yes." "It's to kill Hoederer." "You're going to be the wife of an assassin." "You could never do it, my poor little lamb." "I'll do it for you." "I'll go offer myself to him, and then..." "Thanks, and anyhow you would fail!" "I shall act for myself." " Why?" "You don't even know him." "So that my wife will take me seriously." "Would you?" "Of course." "I would admire you." "I'd hide you." "I'd feed you." "I would entertain you in your hide-away." "And when the neighbors turned us in " "I would throw myself on you despite the police, " "I'm here under orders from the party." "But he seems to be a hard guy." "We'll chloroform him and tie him across a cannon's mouth." "Jessica!" "I'm serious." " Me too." "It's us." "We came to give you a hand." "A hand at what?" " To unpack." "If the four of us pitched in, we could get it done quicker." "You think so?" "This folds in the middle, " "And then you smooth down the sides." " That's right." "I'd rather do it myself." "Don't play with that, Slick." "You'll get ideas." "Excuse him, ma'am." "We haven't seen a woman for six months." "I can't even remember how they're stacked." "These are Hoederer's bodyguards." "I guessed as much." "On account of this?" " That, too." "Don't we look like pros, eh?" "When I went to see Hoederer they kept me covered with the guns." "That's how we are." "If he'd made a wrong move you'd be a widow now." "Your boss must be awfully afraid." "No, he isn't." "He just doesn't want to be killed." "Why should anyone kill him?" "Search me." "But people want to kill him." "His pals came to warn him." "That's interesting." "Oh, you get used to it." "You gotta keep on the lookout, that's all." "Why don't you sit down?" " No, thanks." "Never mind." "We can't offer you anything to drink." "Doesn't matter." "We can't drink on the job." "Are you on the job now?" " We always are." "I see." "Let's sit down, Jessica." "Fine view." "Did you see the bed?" "It's big enough for three." "All that space wasted,   while some people have to sleep on the floor." "Don't you have a bed?" "Yeah." "He sleeps on the rug in the office, and I'm outside the door." "They're friendly, aren't they?" "Delightful." "And you see how they're built?" "Like bears." "You're going to have a trio of friends." "My husband adores killers." "He would have liked to be one himself." "He's not built for it." "It was so nice of you to come to see us." "The pleasure was all ours." "Does us good to see you so happy." "You'll have something to talk about in your hallway." " That's right." "We can say to each other at night: " ""They're so cozy now."" ""He's holding his dear wife in his arms."" "It'll give us courage." "Come back whenever you like." "The place is yours." "We're not leaving yet." "There's just one little formality." "For instance?" "We gotta search the room." " No." "No?" "You're not going to search anything." "Don't knock yourself out." "We got our orders." "Orders from whom?" " Hoederer." "No one gets in here without being frisked." "That's the rule." "You shall not search me." "Cut it out." "You shan't touch it." "How do you plan to stop me, Junior?" "Why don't you telephone Hoederer?" "That's an idea." "Hello." "Leon?" "Go tell the old man - that our pal here doesn't want us to search him." "He's acting up." "He's gonna see the old man." "Why was I disturbed?" "If you let them search me, I'll quit." "That's final." "What's your name?" "Jessica." "I expected you to be homely." "Sorry to disappoint you." " Yes, it's regrettable." "Was it over you they were about to come to blows?" "Not so far." "Things mustn't come to that point." "Ever." "No need to search the place." "We'll talk about it later." "What do you have against him?" "He's too well dressed?" "He talks like a book?" "Question of looks." "Has he ever been hungry?" "You nailed it right on." "I know nothing of hunger." "If you could have seen the tonics they gave me as a kid." "What a waste!" "They opened my mouth and said: "Here's for Papa, for Mama, for Aunt Anna!"" "They had me drink blood fresh from the slaughterhouse,   because I was pale." "I joined the party, only to hear the same old song: " ""You've never been hungry, Hugo."" ""What can you know?" "You've never been hungry."" "You heard him?" "Tell him what he has to do." "Slick, what do you want of him?" "Do you want him to cut off a hand?" "Or tear out one of his eyes?" "Or offer you his wife?" "What must he pay so that you will forgive him?" "We came here prejudiced." "Let's drop it, OK?" "All right." "Now about searching the place." "Suppose they ask you politely, now you're friends." "Would you let them have a look around?" "No!" "And if I were the one to ask you?" "No!" "I see: you have principles." "I could make this a question of principle too." "But principles and I..." "Look at me." "You have no weapons?" "No." "Good." "I trust you." "Get out, you two." "No hard feelings." "No hard feelings." "I'll come to see you in your hallway." "If I were you, I wouldn't go." "Why not?" "They're so cute." "George particularly." "He's like a young girl." "Do you have a big heart?" "No, I have a very tiny heart." "I advise you:" "When your husband is out,   open to nobody." "Not even to me." "You smell nice." "Don't use this perfume when you go to see them." "I'm not wearing any perfume." "That makes it worse." "Let's go, Hugo." "You look kind of funny." "Have you taken ill?" "Tell me if you're ill." "I can request a replacement." "I'm all right." " Smoke?" " No." "I understand you've never taken part in any direct action." "Is that true?" "Yes, it's true." "That must have driven you mad." "All intellectuals dream of doing something." "I put out the paper." "It's an important task." "And they sent you to me." "They thought I was just the man you needed." "They're so kind." "Were you glad to give it up?" "I believe in discipline." "Don't talk to me about discipline." "I distrust people who keep repeating the word." "I need discipline." " Why?" "I have too many ideas in my head." "I must get rid of them." "At this moment, too?" " No, not right now." "I need to obey." "Eat, sleep, obey." "That's it." "Very good." "If you are obedient we'll get along." "What do you need that for?" "You were told not to come here." "I wanted to see you." "You've seen me now." "Go away, he'll come soon." "I miss you, my worker ant." "I have no time to play." "Wait." "I brought you this." "You forgot it." "I didn't forget it." "I never carry it." "You should always have it with you." "Take it back, I don't need it." "Then you have given up on your plan." " Shut up!" "I don't want to do it today." "Why not today, my little Hugo?" "I'm so bored." "I've read all the novels you gave me." "I don't fancy staying in bed all day like an odalisque." "It makes me fat." "Stop playing." "You're the one who's playing." "For ten days now you've put on grand airs   to impress me,   yet he's still alive." "Today would be inopportune." "I loathe people who can't finish what they set out to do." "He's expecting visitors." "The regent and the leader of the bourgeois party." "Kill them too." "You're insufferable." "Take the gun anyway." "If I take it, will you go?" "Sure." "How comfortable!" "It's here he sits, talks, smokes and spins." "Yes." "Does he drink?" " Like a fish." "I hope you decline if he offers you a drink." "You can't hold it." "I know perfectly well that I can't stand alcohol, nor tobacco,   nor cold, nor heat, nor humidity." "I can't stand anything." "Don't kill him." "Then you do believe I'm going to kill him?" "You believe it!" "Here he is!" "What are you doing under there?" "I'm hiding." "Why?" "I want to see what you're like when I'm not here." "Who let her in?" "I don't know." "She's your wife." "Can't you control her any better?" "Poor man!" "He takes you for my husband." "Isn't he?" " No." "He's my younger brother." "She doesn't respect you." "No." "Why did you marry her?" "Because she doesn't respect me." "When you're in the party, you marry someone from the party." "Why?" "It's simpler." "How do you know that I'm not a party member?" "That's evident." "You're hopeless." "Beat it." "Very well." "I leave you to your masculine friendship." "Are you fond of her?" "Naturally." "Then forbid her to set foot in here." "If I have to choose between a mother figure and a vixen, " " I pick the vixen." "Don't make it too easy for me." "They are late." "On the other side of those walls, there are men   who think night and day of getting me." "Sooner or later they're sure to succeed." "How do you know?" "I know them." "They're always logical." "You must hate them." "Why?" "In principle, I have no objection to political assassination." "Could you send away your watchdogs?" "That'll do." "Beat it." "And this one?" "My secretary." "He's staying." "You are Hugo Barine?" " Yes." "Are you with these people?" " Yes." "I saw your father last week." "It is likely that you will bear the responsibility for his death." "He is responsible for my life, so we're even." "You are a little wretch." "You didn't come here to insult my secretary?" "Please be seated." "Thank you." "So this is the famous Hoederer." "The other day your men fired on ours." "Why?" "We had a cache of arms in a garage and   your men wanted them." "Did they get them?" "Yes." " Nicely done." "There's nothing to be proud of:" "It was ten against one." "When the point is to win, it's the right proportion." "Gentlemen, let's get down to business." "Good." "I'm listening to you." "I agreed to the meeting only because of your insistence." "I'm convinced that no good will come of it." "Karsky,   last year you organized two attempts against me,   yet I was willing to meet you." "We haven't perhaps many reasons to like each other,   but it doesn't matter   when the national interest is at stake." "Karsky and I have come to an agreement in principle." "It goes without saying that this front should be as broad as possible." "If the Proletarian Party expresses a desire to join us..." "What do you offer?" "Two votes for your party   in the national underground committee we shall set up." "Two votes out of how many?" "Out of twelve." "Two votes out of twelve?" "No one is forcing you to accept." "But if you accept, the government would be ready to set aside   the laws of '39 controlling the press and union organization." "Very tempting!" "Well, we have become acquainted." "Now let's get to work." "Here are my conditions: " "A steering committee reduced to six members." "The Proletarian Party is to have three votes." "You can divide the other three as you see fit." "Do you take us for fools?" " No one is forcing you to accept." "The answer is no." "We'll manage without you." " You may leave, then." "Aren't you coming?" "We can't reject the proposal   without a discussion." "It's not a proposal." "It's an absurd ultimatum which I refuse to discuss." "I'm convinced that you want to save our country." "But as it stands,   with its regime of social inequality and its class privileges." "When the Germans seemed on the point of victory, you supported them." "Today the tables are turned, and you seek the favor of the Russians." "But it's more difficult." "That's abhorrent!" "Too many of our men fell in struggle for me to let you say   that we compromised with the enemy to preserve our privileges." "It doesn't matter." "When the Russians are here,   they shall see through our eyes." "I'm afraid you'll have to do it our way." "We came with a honest proposal and you reply with contemptible blackmail." "Squeal if you like." "I'm not susceptible." "Squeal like a stuck pig." "But remember this:   when the war is lost, we'll seize the power." "Pick your sides." "We must take a realistic view of the situation." "You're a coward." "You brought me into a trap to save your neck." "What trap?" "Go if you wish to." "The Prince and I can come to an agreement without you." "You wouldn't..." "My decision doesn't depend on yours." "Do you accept my conditions?" "I don't have the authority to accept." "I'm pressed for time." "I trust you." "I always trust people on principle." "If you accept on principle today, " " I will speak tomorrow to my comrades." "You have no right." "My God, " "They are..." " Will you be quiet, kid!" "Look here, you two: the party won't support him in this scheme!" "Pay no attention to him." "It's a strictly personal reaction." "This outburst annoys me." "Couldn't we have your guards make the young man leave?" "No need for that." "He'll go himself." "Don't touch me." "Won't you listen to me?" "You dead?" "No." "Search the garden." "You're bleeding." "It's nothing." "A splinter of glass." "I expected something like this." "I'm sorry that they picked this moment." "Pooh!" "It reminds me of my palace." "Let's continue upstairs." "Not you." "The dirty bastards." "What?" " The ones who threw that firecracker." "You're a little nervous, huh?" "You'll get used to it." "It's refreshing." "It's a change." "I'm not nervous." "I'm furious." "At whom, my little lamb?" "You're not a coward." "I'm not cowardly, nor courageous." "Too many nerves." "I should like to go to sleep and dream that I'm George." "A hundred kilos of meat and a peanut for a brain." "The peanut sends out signals of fear and rage,   but they're lost in all that mass." "It tickles, that's all." "You hear that?" "He's not so wrong." "Don't drink any more." " Why not?" "There's nothing more for me to do." "I've been relieved of my duties." "Slick, imagine you're on a mission and you work your ass off to carry it out,   and at the moment of fulfillment you see they had someone else do it." "Will you be quiet?" "What a story!" "It must be nice in your head." "Not a sound, just a never-ending night." "What are you?" "Bumps on logs?" "Shoot me!" "It's your job." "This kid shouldn't drink." "He can't take it." "Don't scream." "I am..." "I have more of a mind to laugh, not scream." "I'm Olga." " I thought as much." "Hugo told you about me?" "Yes." "Is he wounded?" " No." "Just drunk." "Not like that." "Excuse me." "You threw the bomb?" "Yes." " No one died." "How did you get in?" " By the door." "Somebody left it open." "You should never leave doors open." "With a bit of luck, you would have killed him." "It would have been best for him." "Really?" "The party doesn't like traitors." " He is no traitor." "I know it, but I can't make the others believe it." "It's taking much too long." "You have to wait for the right moment." "You have to make the right moment." "That's why you put a bomb in your handbag and came to throw it at Hugo." "To save his reputation." "Had I succeeded, they'd have thought he had given his life to kill Hoederer." "Yes, but he would be dead." "He hasn't much chance of getting out of it unscathed now." "Good friend you are!" "Surely my friendship is better than your love." "Too bad he didn't marry you." "He could have stayed in ironing your underwear - while you went out throwing bombs in the square." "Then we should all have been very happy." "I thought you were big and bony." "With a mustache?" " Not a mustache." "But with a wart under your nose." "He always had an air of importance when he came from seeing you." ""We talked politics."" "Wake him up." "Wake up, Hugo." "You have a visitor." "Olga, you came!" "You can't help me any more." "Why didn't you trust me?" "You're slow, Hugo." "What does Louis think?" "He thinks you're a traitor." "That's pretty strong." "You haven't a day to lose." "The matter must be closed before tomorrow night,   or we'll get someone else to do it." "If I am replaced I'll leave the party." "One only leaves the party feet first." "Good-by." "You feel sick?" "I have a headache, that's all." "Trust isn't so much, when it can't wait a week." "No, not much." "How can you live if nobody trusts you?" "Nobody ever believed in me, you least of all." "Just the same, I got along." "You noticed how his eyes are?" "Who?" " Hoederer." "Hard, brilliant, alive." "I'll hit him in the eyes." "You know how the gun jerks upward?" "You need to rest." "Speak no more." "Don't worry about me." "I'll stay close to you." "It'll be cold in the morning: you'll be glad to have a little of my warmth." "I have nothing else to give you." "Your head still hurts?" "Yes." "Rest it on my shoulder." "Your forehead is burning up." "Poor head." "I frightened you?" "May I sit down a minute?" "Don't bother about me." "It's not very easy to pretend that you're not here." "You have something to tell me?" "No, nothing." "You made me laugh awhile ago." "You were red with anger." "We'll wind up this affair." "What affair?" " This business with Karsky." "He wants to be coaxed, but it'll go through." "You have no right." " Sh, sh!" "Tomorrow." "When I was deputy to the Landstag, " " I lived above a chauffeur." "In the evening I used to smoke my pipe in my living room." "I had a radio." "The children were playing on the floor." "It's just a mirage." "What is a mirage?" " All that." "You too." "A man must work, that is all." "I hear you got drunk." "You have no right to sign the treaty." "Why?" "We have to seize the power alone." "Arms in hand, if necessary." "Is it the lack of bloodshed you regret?" "After the war, the country is ruined." "It won't even be good enough for a battlefield." "The government will be blamed." "We would be swept out by the tiniest of insurrections." "If we are alone." "An insurrection can be put down." "We'll hold the country in an iron grip." " How?" "!" "Without the support of the bourgeois party, the army will turn against us." "You have ideals, but you'll get over them." "How about our dead comrades?" "Wouldn't we betray them?" "Forget the dead." "I pursue a policy for the living." "And you think they agree to your schemes?" "We'll get them to swallow them little by little." " By lying to them." "Why not?" "We're at war; it's not customary to keep each soldier informed hour by hour." "I have never lied to my comrades." "Wonderful." "If we break off these parleys,   the Regent will know know the game is off and will attack us like a mad dog." "Hundreds of thousands will lose their lives." "What do you say to that?" "You can't make a revolution with flowers." "If there's no other way..." "What?" "Why then, so much the worse!" "You see, Hugo?" "You don't love men, Hugo." "You love only principles." "Why should I love them?" "Do they love me?" "If you don't love men, you can't fight for them." "You don't want to change the world, you want to blow it up." "You're all alike." "An intellectual is never a real revolutionary" "Just good enough to make an assassin." "Yes!" "An assassin." "It's the dame." "She wants to see you." "No." "She says it's very important." "Very well." "Tell her to come in." "What is it?" "Out with it!" "Then make yourself scarce." " Last night..." "Yes." "What?" "I discovered that you're the one who's right." " I see." "Thank you, I feel encouraged." "You also seemed so alone in the world." "So what?" "It's wonderful to see a man who stands alone." " So wonderful that   you want to keep him company." "And so, just like that, he's no longer alone." "The world is made badly." "You won't hurt him?" " Whom?" "Hugo!" "You like him, don't you?" "Please don't get sentimental." "He means to kill me, eh?" "Isn't that what's on your mind?" "You've known?" "Since yesterday." "How does he intend to kill me?" "How?" "With what weapon?" "Hand-grenade, revolver, dagger?" "Poison?" " Revolver." "I prefer that." "When he comes in he'll have his revolver with him." "Have Slick disarm him gently." "Then it will be all over." "No." "That would humiliate him." "One shouldn't humiliate a man." "I'll talk to him." "You are going to let him come in here armed?" " Why not?" "It will be risky for five minutes, but not after that." "If he doesn't go through with it at once, he'll never do it." "Go out through the bedroom." "If you stay he's certain to shoot." "In front of you he wouldn't back down." "Good morning." "Did you sleep well?" "All right." "Hangover?" "Awful." "Let's do some work." "Where were we?" ""According to official figures   the number of agricultural workers has fallen   from it's 1906 figure of 1,436,000."" "Did you know that it was a woman who threw the bomb?" "A woman?" "Slick saw footprints in a flowerbed." "Leave us." "Did you know her?" "How should I know her?" "It's strange, isn't it?" "Very." "You'd never make a killer." "Anyone can kill if the party orders him to." "One has to be born a killer." "Let's suppose that " " I'm standing here before you." "You're pointing a gun at me." "Let go of my hand." "As you were set to shoot, you think   " what if it was he who was right, not me."" "I would only think of killing." "You're thirsty, aren't you?" "Would you like some coffee?" "You know, Hugo?" "I trust you." "Why tell it to me today?" "Give me your gun." "I gave you your chance and you didn't take it." "I hate you." "You take me for a coward." " Why would I?" "You can't kill, but that doesn't mean that you don't know how to die." "On the contrary." "I had my finger on the trigger." "I..." "They'll think I'm a traitor." "Who?" "It's Louis who sent you?" "You won't say." "That's as it should be." "Get some fresh air." "Come back as soon as you want." "I was about to throw myself in between you and take the bullet for you." "You again, you poison?" "You're a romantic." "You risked your life rather than humiliate him." "Beat it." "I'm not in the habit of refusing what is offered me." "You still have time to go." "In five minutes it will be too late." "Do you understand what I mean?" "No." "If you're restless,   there are Slick and George to distract you." "I think I love you." "Idiot." "Hugo!" "So that's the way it is!" "So that's why you spared me." "I wondered why you didn't have me killed." "But it's all clear now:" "it was on account of my wife." "Hugo, do you want me to swear that..." "Don't apologize!" "I'm aiming at you and my hand's not shaking!" "Don't be stupid." "You bastard!" " Don't hurt him." "He was jealous." "I've been sleeping with his wife." "Was it true?" "Did you really kill him over Jessica?" "I killed him because I opened the door." "That's all I know." "He had lipstick on his chin." "It was all so trivial." "But weren't you jealous?" "Perhaps." "Answer me frankly." "Are you proud of your deed?" "Would you do it again if necessary?" "Did I even do it?" "It wasn't I who killed." "It was chance." "If I had opened the door two minutes sooner or two minutes later..." "Chance fired three shots, just as in cheap detective stories." "What time is it?" "Twenty minutes to twelve." "We still have time." "Do you believe you fired for the right reasons?" "I believe everything." "I could even believe I shot him in political fervor." "What are you smiling at?" "You make it a lot easier." "Listen, " "I thought I was too young." "I wanted to hang a crime round my neck." "I feared it'd be too heavy for me to carry, but I was wrong." "It's light!" "It has no weight at all." "What do you say about that?" "You're coming back to the party." " Good." "Charles and Frantz will soon come to kill you,   but I won't let them in." "I'll tell them you are salvageable." "Tomorrow you'll join us,   and do a man's work." "All your expenses will be reimbursed for." "Will you help me, as before?" "I'll help you." "I do like you, Olga." "You are just as you always were." "So pure, so clear." "It was you who taught me purity." "I have aged." "Not at all." "From now on we won't part." "If things get tough, we'll face it together." "But first you must forget." "Forget what?" "That you killed Hoederer." "Don't ever talk about it." "It was just a bad dream." "Not even to me." "But why?" "Wasn't that what you wanted?" "That was then." "The situation has changed." "What have you done?" "We're in the government now,   but only temporarily." "When the situation is stable, we'll be back in opposition." " Continue!" "We formed a government with the bourgeois and welcomed the Americans." "We saved a hundred thousand lives." "That's what Hoederer wanted!" "It was the wrong time, and he was unsuitable for a policy like this." "You had to get rid of him." "Smart!" "I assume you have cleared his name." " It was inevitable." "A statue is being planned for him." "And his killer?" "Who was he?" "Was he paid by the Germans?" " Hugo!" " Answer me!" "We were at war!" "The troops can not be fully informed." "That's what he said." "What a joke!" "What a difficult crime." "Nobody wants it." "I don't know why I did it, and you don't know what to do with it." "You're all alike!" " Don't talk like that." "Hoederer, Louis, you, the bourgeois." "All alike." "Conquerors and leaders." "I just happened to open the wrong door." "Don't be afraid." "I won't hurt you." "Be silent." "I need to reorganize my thoughts." "You don't understand, Hugo." "They'll come with their guns..." " I know!" "They're even a little late, but I answer no." "I won't work with you." "You'll let them kill you like a dog?" "Here they come." "Hugo, it would be criminal." " No big words, Olga." "There have been too many of them already and I'm tired." "Take my gun and go through the window." "Good-by, Olga." "Unsalvageable."