IX: Disaster explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Crime and Morality

  Lanyard reflects on the moral equivalence between himself and the criminals he despises, questioning his own identity as a thief.

• Surveillance and Paranoia

  De Morbihan admits to having Lanyard under observation, and Lanyard is constantly wary of attacks from Popinot and others.

• Loyalty and Betrayal

  De Morbihan's motives are ambiguous; he protects Lanyard only to preserve his own interest in the stolen jewels.

Characters to notice

• Michael Lanyard

  Lanyard loses his winnings at the club, accepts De Morbihan's escort, and later survives a violent assault in his room.

• Comte Remy de Morbihan

  De Morbihan insists on driving Lanyard home, revealing his interest in the Omber loot and warning him about Popinot.

• Popinot

  Popinot is identified as a vindictive and dangerous figure who controls murderous Apaches.

• Lucia Bannon

  Lanyard recalls Lucia Bannon's image and wonders about her opinion of him, hinting at a budding conscience.

• Roddy

  Lanyard suspects Roddy may have entered his room, but the intruder turns out to be an unknown assailant.

Key passages

• “his heavy winnings at chemin-de-fer and ten thousand francs of his reserve fund to boot. By way of lining for his pockets there remained precisely the sum which he had brought into Paris that same evening, less subsequent general disbursements.”

  Lanyard lost all his gambling profits and an additional ten thousand francs, leaving him with only the money he had when he first arrived in Paris, minus his expenses.

  Highlights Lanyard's financial reversal and his resigned attitude toward gambling losses.

• “What right was his to resent their opening the door to confraternity, as long as he trod paths so closely parallel to theirs that only a sophist might discriminate them?”

  Lanyard questions his moral superiority over criminals like Wertheimer and Popinot, realizing his own life of thievery makes him no different.

  Key moment of self-reflection on crime and morality.

• “Without warning, incongruously and, in his understanding, inexplicably, he found himself beset by recurrent memory of the girl, Lucia Bannon.”

  Unexpectedly, Lanyard's thoughts turn to Lucia Bannon, and he wonders what she would think if she knew he was a thief.

  Introduces Lanyard's emotional connection to Lucia and his nascent conscience.

• “And then two powerful arms were round him, pinioning his hands to his sides, his feet were tripped up, and he was thrown with a force that fairly jarred his teeth, half-stunning him.”

  Lanyard is suddenly attacked from behind, wrestled to the ground, and nearly choked to death before fighting back.

  Climactic assault scene that drives the chapter's tension.