Continental Op Stories · Chapter
II: Romaine explained
The Continental Op visits the Minister of Police's office to inquire about Lionel Grantham.
What happens
The Continental Op visits the Minister of Police's office to inquire about Lionel Grantham. He meets Romaine Frankl, the Minister's secretary, who is a former vaudeville performer from the United States. After waiting for the Minister, Vasilije Djudakovich, to wake from his nap, Romaine interprets for the Op, and the Minister agrees to assist, asking the Op to return the next day.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Identity
The Op uses a fabricated story about coming from the U.S. chargé d’affaires to gain access, and Romaine's past as a vaudeville performer hints at themes of performance and hidden identity.
Class and Power
The opulence of the Minister's office and the deference shown to him highlight class and power dynamics, with the Op navigating bureaucratic hierarchies.
Characters to notice
- The Continental Op
Visits the Minister of Police's office to seek information about Lionel Grantham.
- Romaine Frankl
The Minister's secretary, a small woman with a soft voice and effortless grace, formerly in vaudeville in the United States.
- Vasilije Djudakovich
The Minister of Police, a massive, nearly seven-foot-tall man who appears to sleep through much of the conversation.
- Lionel Grantham
The subject of the Op's inquiry, described by Romaine as charming but naive and inexperienced.
Key passages
“In French that was even worse than my German, a thin, white-whiskered clerk, who looked like a consumptive Santa Claus, told me His Excellency was not in.”
The Op speaks poor French to a clerk who resembles a sickly Santa Claus, who says the Minister is unavailable.
Introduces the setting and the Op's language difficulties.
“She might have been any age from twenty to thirty, something less than five feet in height, slim without boniness, with curly hair as near black as brown can get, black-lashed eyes whose gray irises had black rims, a small, delicate-featured face, and a voice that seemed too soft and faint to carry as well as it did.”
Romaine Frankl is a petite, delicate woman with dark curly hair and gray eyes, appearing between twenty and thirty years old.
Detailed description of Romaine's appearance.
“I was in the United States for a year and half, in vaudeville, bringing rabbits out of hats.”
Romaine spent a year and a half in the U.S. performing magic tricks in vaudeville.
Reveals Romaine's background and connection to the U.S.
“This Vasilije Djudakovich stood nearly seven feet tall, and that was nothing to his girth. Maybe he wouldn’t weigh more than five hundred pounds, but, looking at him, it was hard to think except in terms of tons.”
The Minister of Police is an enormous man, nearly seven feet tall and extremely heavy, giving an impression of immense size.
Describes the Minister's imposing physical presence.