Atdtda32: Conning must be done in person, 906-907

[Paul Nightingale]

The previous section has been organised round a tension between the personal
(ie the narrative assuming the pov of characters, positioning the reader
with those characters) and the impersonal (ie Crouchmas as a representative
of global capitalism, Dally as a representative of celebrity culture). Here,
Crouchmas begins by trying to con Dally. He does so by reference to
imperialism in the form of "those old Ottoman railway guarantees", a
faceless system that. nonetheless, requires the personal touch: "... the
thing must be done in person" (907). Thus does Dally ("The new show won't go
into rehearsal for a while ...") up her game as a spy. Each is conning the
other, of course.

Lew, however, will confirm Dally's role as female innocent. If Crouchmas
insists he must go "in person" to Constantinople, Lew, similarly, "[feels]
it within his remit to accompany [Dally] to Charing Cross". Ever the
gentleman he appears to have carried her valise; handing it over is a cue
for Dally to "[lean] up and [kiss] his cheek". Lew does introduce "a
personal note" in warning Dally against Crouchmas, but just as quickly the
narrative fixes on the introspective: "He'd found himself wondering lately
..." etc, as if coming upon himself as another, existing in another
narrative. For Crouchmas ("she was not one of the usual ..." etc, top of
906) and for Lew also ("... if it was Dally who might have turned out to be
The Star", 907) Dally seems to offer some kind of alternative scenario, a
repositioning of the self, an emphasis on interpretation. Go back to the
"presentable young women" on 901: "her nakedness meant to suggest that, even
when deprived of everything, one may still hope".