IV: The Red Bean explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Anarchism and Political Terrorism

  The Red Hundred is a revolutionary terrorist organization, and the chapter depicts their secret meeting, the use of bombs, and the fear of the Four Just Men, illustrating the theme of political violence.

• Class, Corruption, and Criminality

  Bartholomew's fraudulent claims of aristocratic connections and his exploitation of the Red Hundred for personal gain exemplify the corruption and class pretense within the criminal underworld.

• Moral Ambiguity of Right and Wrong

  The Four Just Men, though targeting terrorists, use violent methods themselves, and Bartholomew's lies and the group's fear blur the lines between justice and criminality.

Characters to notice

• Lauder Bartholomew

  Ex-captain of Irregular Cavalry, now a member of the Inner Council of the Red Hundred. He is a liar and mercenary, having fabricated his background and exploited the organization for money. He receives the red and black beans and later panics when a bomb is discovered.

• Rudulph Starque

  President of the Inner Council, suspicious of Bartholomew and jealous of his attention to the Woman of Gratz. He leads the escape when the bomb is found.

• The Woman of Gratz

  A revolutionary figure who arrives at the meeting, causing tension between Starque and Bartholomew. She is threatened by the Four Just Men and remains calm during the bomb scare.

• François

  French member of the Inner Council, present at the meeting and involved in the escape.

• Mr. Jessen

  Not directly present in this chapter, but the bomb and the beans are associated with the Four Just Men's methods, which Jessen is later involved in.

Key passages

• “Bartholomew was the best dressed of the men who gathered about the green table in Greek Street, for he had held the King’s commission, which is of itself a sartorial education.”

  Bartholomew was the most stylishly dressed person at the meeting because his time as a British officer had taught him how to dress well.

  Highlights Bartholomew's superficial refinement and his military background.

• “He had drawn a bow at a venture when under distress⁠—literally it was a distress warrant issued at the instance of a importunate landlord⁠—he had indited a letter to a revolutionary offering to act as London agent for an organization which was then known as The Friends of the People, but which has since been absorbed into the body corporate of the Red Hundred.”

  Desperate and facing eviction, Bartholomew took a chance by writing to a revolutionary group, offering to be their London representative, which led to his involvement with the Red Hundred.

  Explains Bartholomew's entry into the anarchist organization out of financial desperation.

• “Starque was an ingenious man and had learnt many things in Russia. Men who gather round a green baize-covered table with locked doors are apt to be dealt with summarily if no adequate excuse for their presence is evident, and it is more satisfactory to be fined a hundred roubles for gambling than to be dragged off at a moment’s notice to an indefinite period of labour in the mines on suspicion of being concerned in a revolutionary plot.”

  Starque, experienced in Russian methods, arranged for the group to pretend to gamble so that if the police raided them, they would only be fined for gambling rather than arrested for revolutionary activities.

  Shows the group's precautions to avoid police detection.

• “The clock! gasped Bartholomew in a hollow voice, where⁠—where is the clock?”

  Bartholomew, terrified, asked where the ticking sound was coming from, realizing it was a bomb.

  Marks the moment of panic when the bomb is discovered.