XLI explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Nostalgia and Loss

  The narrator reflects on the eccentric and romantic members of the syndicate, many of whom have lost their former lives or status, evoking a sense of longing for a bygone era.

• Heroism and National Spirit

  The syndicate's devotion to the Carlist cause and the romantic ideal of living by the sword, as exemplified by J. M. K. B., reflects a nationalistic and heroic spirit.

• Routine and Monotony

  The syndicate's meetings in a tavern and the planning of voyages, along with the repetitive nature of smuggling operations, hint at a routine underlying the adventurous facade.

Characters to notice

• J. M. K. B.

  The oldest member of the syndicate, a North Carolinian gentleman who lives by his sword and later dies in a Balkanian squabble.

• Henry C⸺

  A black sheep from a London suburb, enamored of Provence, who reads poetry aloud and writes sonnets to Thérèse, the daughter of a café owner.

• Don Carlos

  The pretender to the Spanish throne, whose cause the syndicate supports; he has just crossed the Pyrenees.

• Doña Rita

  A Carlist of Basque blood who provides information for the syndicate's operations and imitates a highly-placed Parisian personage.

• Mr. Conrad

  The narrator and seagoing member of the syndicate, who delivers messages to a Carlist priest in Guipuzcoa.

Key passages

• “We four formed (to use a term well understood nowadays in every social sphere) a 'syndicate' owning the Tremolino: an international and astonishing syndicate.”

  The four of us created a syndicate that owned the Tremolino, a group that was both international and remarkable.

  Introduces the syndicate and its ownership of the ship.

• “He was a North Carolinian gentleman, J. M. K. B. were the initials of his name, and he really did live by the sword, as far as I know. He died by it, too, later on, in a Balkanian squabble, in the cause of some Serbs or else Bulgarians, who were neither Catholics nor gentlemen.”

  J. M. K. B., a gentleman from North Carolina, truly made his living by the sword and eventually died by it in a Balkan conflict for people he considered neither Catholic nor gentlemanly.

  Describes the fate of the oldest syndicate member.

• “As to Henry C⸺, the next in age and wisdom of our band, he had broken loose from the unyielding rigidity of his family, solidly rooted, if I remember rightly, in a well-to-do London suburb. On their respectable authority he introduced himself meekly to strangers as a 'black sheep.'”

  Henry C⸺, the second oldest and wisest, had escaped his strict family from a wealthy London suburb and modestly called himself a 'black sheep.'

  Characterizes Henry C⸺ as a rebel from a respectable family.

• “Our third partner was Roger P. de la S⸺, the most Scandinavian-looking of Provençal squires, fair, and six feet high, as became a descendant of sea-roving Northmen, authoritative, incisive, wittily scornful, with a comedy in three acts in his pocket, and in his breast a heart blighted by a hopeless passion for his beautiful cousin, married to a wealthy hide and tallow merchant.”

  Roger P. de la S⸺, a tall, fair Provençal squire with a Scandinavian look, was authoritative and witty, carrying a play in his pocket and nursing a hopeless love for his married cousin.

  Portrays Roger's appearance and personal tragedy.

• “The possibility of raising Catalonia in the interest of the Rey netto, who had just then crossed the Pyrenees, was much discussed there.”

  They often talked about the chance to stir up Catalonia for the legitimate king, who had recently crossed the Pyrenees.

  Highlights the political goal of the syndicate.