The Secret Agent

Set in London during the 1880s, Mr Verloc the shopkeeper leads a life of simplicity and obscurity - the perfect ingredients for his secret job as a spy. Thus spoke Mr Verloc, applying his mind with ingenuity and forethought to the problems of the future.  His voice was sombre, because he had a correct sentiment of the situation.  Everything which he did not wish to pass had come to pass.  The future had become precarious.  His judgment, perhaps, had been momentarily obscured by his dread of Mr Vladimir’s truculent folly.  A man somewhat over forty may be excusably thrown into considerable disorder by the prospect of losing his employment, especially if the man is a secret agent of political police, dwelling secure in the consciousness of his high value and in the esteem of high personages.  He was excusable. - Excerpt from The Secret Agent.