Sentence The Fivehundredandninetyfirst

 

On his discharge from the hospital, J Alfred Prufrock accompanied Pal and Gertie in a taxi to their hotel where, as chance would have it – if you believe in chance, coincidence, all those other terms we use to avoid looking more closely and tracing the routes which have led us, unerringly, towards the fateful meeting, meaningful encounter, significant incident, at which point our life takes on a new direction, we embark on an unexpected journey, or enter into a relationship we had never anticipated – he too was a guest; they helped him to his room, less ostentatious than their own suite nearby, but comfortable for a single man, administered medication given them by the doctor and a glass or two of brandy – he was sore all over and need rest before he could speak coherently, so while Gertie ran him a bath, Pal listened to his rambling monologue, sifted out the chaff and gradually pieced the grains of 

wheat together in her mind, thus enabling her to derive a reasonable picture of this man, hitherto a stranger, but now perhaps an accomplice: he was, as Gertie had guessed, an American, and his first name was Jubal said he, confirming his Jewish descent through his mother but no he didn't play the flute, though was a passable honky-tonk pianist, and said, cryptically, that his life had been measured out in coffee-spoons (an allusion which had Pal stumped until Gertie explained it to her) he was single, and represented his father's company in Europe; as to the nature of that company, his replies became even vaguer and less coherent, something to do with shipping and transferring and exchanging and give-and-take and import/export under the wire; she was now convinced that was, indeed, a spy and tried to get more information from him about the dates and times and places which she had committed to her memory together with names of certain individuals and organisations she had never before encountered; in the bath he became sleepy and called for assistance to get out of the

huge tub: Palestrina took him under the arms and Gertie held his ankles as they lifted together and stood him on the mat – Gertie wrapped a towel around him and helped him into a dressing-gown so that he would not feel himself observed by the two girls as he made his way into the bedroom, where Gertie had laid out pyjamas and a night-cap she found in one of his drawers, then they left him and, on checking a quarter of an hour later found him to be fast asleep in the bed; Pal quickly wrote a note giving their room number and they made their way to it, just a few doors along the corridor; "I never realised how strong you are," said Gertie as they took seats in their own sitting-room, and Pal laughed: "yes, I used to box . . . . . " and stopped short, but Gertie's ears had pricked up: "box?" she asked, "whatever do you mean Pal?" and for the first time since they had met on the train to Berlin, Pal blushed scarlet to her roots; "oh, tell me, darling, do tell," and Pal explained that she was actually he, playing the part of his own twin sister, who had died in infancy "you are Pantagruel!" cried Gertie in excited astonishment, "why, I have met you in my own time!" and Pal looked at her friend in astonishment: "does that mean we shall both survive this assignment?" to which Gertie exclaimed: "I fucking well hope so!" and they collapsed into laughter and tears, but the Pal took command of the

situation: "we must deliver Prufrock's message to it's proper destination: from what I can make out, the top brass in the Wehrmacht are offering a coup against Herr Hitler, if the British and French will declare war the instant this Sudetenland invasion kicks off; they have both stated that they will abide by their commitment to defend Czechoslovakia in the event of an attack and the Generals believe that the planned invasion will result in a European war which they foresee Germany losing; I don't think this is simply that they are genuinely opposed to Hitler and his domestic policies, but rather that they wish to spare Germany another humiliation so soon after the Great War, they are merely being pragmatic and want to save their country from what they foresee is national suicide and their daedal projections are based on their knowledge of military strengths and weaknesses; they have, it seems drawn up plans for Hitler which he predicts will enable his armies to crush all opposition, but depend upon Britain and France failing to act to save Czechoslovakia; if the invasion goes ahead as Mr Prufrock's informant suggests it will, and the Czech allies abide by their promises, it will be the green-light for the Generals and they will be hailed as their country's saviours – a clarion call to all of Hitler’s internal opponents to rise up and seize back the power which the Nazis have taken for themselves," and Gertie, impressed at Pal's quick understanding of the message – incomprehensible to her when she heard it first spoken – but now thinking that, of course, if Pal was truly Pantagruel, the same Pantagruel she had followed from Auntie Crist's house, then she, he, oh this was confusing, worked at the Foreign Office and would already possess inside information and know far more about the current situation than Gertie herself could remember from her schooldays; she raised her hand, an act which made her feel rather foolish, as if she was back in a classroom facing a more-knowlegable teacher than she would ever be: "so what do you think is the hit-point? if Hitler is allowed to do what he wants and the Generals don't get their desired response from Czechoslovakia's allies, what will prevent him from taking over Europe," and Pan gave a small, apologetic smile: "I think we both know that, don't we darling? only America coming in will turn the tide and Roosevelt's opponents will do everything in their power to prevent that – they will argue that it is a European War and America should not get embroiled in another, and their control of the Senate and the House will tie his hands behind his back; no there needs to be a clarion call right now, or millions upon millions of lives will be destroyed and the information contained in Prufrock's message may give them sufficient forewarning to make up their minds quickly, you might say it's now or never!"