– You, she said with stinging scorn, are a completely selfish man. You could see that Mr Jones was a good, giving person, so you extracted service from him like a tooth. Never mind the pain it brought him; never mind what he left behind; never mind what he returned to. You still want help, advice, guidance. Because you want these things, you resent the fact that he has at last found comfort. What does he owe you, Mr Eagle? It is you who owe him everything. There is no honour in a man who returns treachery for love. Virgil has come to his place of sanctuary; let him be.
– He owes me an explanation, said Flapping Eagle dully. An explanation of his motives in bringing me here.
– But my dear, exclaimed Virgil Jones, it was you who brought me here.
– But why? cried Flapping Eagle, helplessly. Why?
– Mr Eagle is leaving, Gilles, said Madame Jocasta. Will you show him the way?
Gilles Priape, showing an unprecedented burst of speed, grasped Flapping Eagle’s right arm and twisted it behind his back.
– No, said Virgil Jones in his old, sober voice. I’ll tell him.
– Nicholas Deggle was expelled from Calf Island by myself and Grimus, said Virgil Jones, because he believed that the power in Grimus’ possession should be destroyed. At the time I agreed with Grimus that the new knowledge was precious, that the forces of reaction that Deggle represented should be fought. Now, I don’t. The effect grows in strength… I’m not sure Grimus can control it any more. I wanted the source of the effect destroyed.
– So you were using me, said Flapping Eagle. So much for Madame’s righteousness.
– If you like, I was using you, said Virgil Jones. I no longer have the ability to approach Grimus. You have, since you conquered the inner dimensions so well. I also believed you had the will, the drive, because of your urge to find your sister.
– She is with him? asked Flapping Eagle.
– Of course she is, said Virgil tiredly. Where else could she be?
– I’ve seen her, said Flapping Eagle, here. In K.
– So, said Virgil Jones, and his eyes gleamed for a moment, then faded once more. So now you know what poor Dolores meant by a Spectre of the Stone Rose.
– What is the stone rose? asked Flapping Eagle. And where is Grimus to be found? Higher up the mountain, presumably?
– It doesn’t matter now, said Virgil Jones. You have made your decision and I mine. So the road ends here. For both of us. Goodbye, Mr Eagle.
Flapping Eagle had experienced so many emotions since entering this room that he had been forced to take refuge in anger.
– Tin glad, he said brusquely, that I haven’t ended exactly here, surrounded by whores and madness.
– Haven’t you? asked Virgil Jones.
– No, shouted Flapping Eagle. I damn well haven’t. I may not be sure of much but I am sure of that. I’ve done better than you.
– I disapprove of certainties, said Virgil Jones. They limit one’s range of vision. Doubt is one aspect of width.
Flapping Eagle left the room without the assistance of Gilles Priape, who was, to him, a grotesque nightmare of his own past… and in doing so, performed his most K-like act so far. He resolved to close his mind to the past, to close it to any guilt or humiliation, to close it to any pangs of truth he may have experienced under Madame Jocasta’s fierce, despising stare. Virgil was right: the decision was made.
He also decided that he disliked Virgil Jones.
All of which helped him to render his choice supportable.
He passed two people on his way out. The first was a beautiful, dark-haired and naked woman-Media hated wearing clothes within the walls of the House. She stopped dead, staring as he passed, immobilized. He went down the stairs without really having seen her; his eyes were looking far away. She went upstairs, into the room where Jocasta and Kamala were looking serious, though Virgil was laughing quite a lot. Gilles Priape had left, seeking a place to lounge in private.
– Mr Jones, she said, was that your friend?
– No, said Madame Jocasta sharply.
– Yes, said Virgil Jones. He was.
– You must tell me all about him, said Media.
Madame Jocasta felt impotence replacing her fury. It seemed Flapping Eagle was now to come between her and her favourite. Life could be very unfair sometimes.
The second person he met was Flann O’Toole, on his way from a session with Boom-Boom de Sade to the Elbaroom. They met at the door.
– Oho, boomed O’Toole. So there you are. I hear ’tis a great success you’ve had with the Cherkassovs and the Gribbs. Shouldn’t you be drinking to celebrate your arrival amongst us? Sort of a welcome to the fold, eh?
– Lead me to it, said Flapping Eagle.
They left together; and it was only when they arrived at the Elbaroom that Flapping Eagle remembered the message he should have given Virgil Jones-the message from Liv.
XLIII On Obsession
– HOW MANY GENIUSES have you ever heard of who were in no way obsessive? declaimed Ignatius Gribb. Obsession is the path to self-realization. The only path, Mr Eagle, the only path.
– Virgil Jones says it reflects a fear of the workings of the mind, said Flapping Eagle. He was sufficiently drunk not to care what he said, and the Gribbs sufficiently proper to pretend he wasn’t drunk at all; though Elfrida sat in distressed silence at the lunch-table.
– Virgil Jones is a human wreck, said Ignatius Gribb. A living testimony of the idiocy of what he is pleased to call his ideas. I am glad you have dissociated yourself from him, Mr Eagle, very glad indeed. You must now detach yourself from his ramblings, too.
– Virgil Jones says that doubts are preferable to certainties, mumbled Flapping Eagle.
Ignatius Gribb drew a deep breath. -Hamlet’s disease, he said. Doubt, I mean. It got him killed. The old story of Doubting Thomas is another case in point. Where there are certainties it is laughable to doubt. Don’t you agree?
– Er… said Flapping Eagle, the mists of alcohol settling upon him, but Ignatius Gribb was not to be denied.
– The crucial distinction to draw, he said, is between obsession and possession. The possessed man is out of control of himself; it is a form of insanity. Possession leads to tyrannies and vile crimes. Obsession leads to the reverse. It composes symphonies and creates paintings. It writes novels and moves mountains. It is the supreme gift of the human race. To deny it is to deny our humanity. What purpose is there in immortality if it is not to be used to explore in depth one’s deepest preoccupations? What purpose is there in Calf Island?
– Virgil Jones says, said Flapping Eagle, that the boot is on the other foot. He says the island creates the need… he says the Grimus Effect can only be survived by obsessed minds.
– And that, said Ignatius Gribb, is the myth your prime interest is intended to explode.
Elfrida Gribb spoke for the first time.
– Flapping Eagle, she said. You don’t mind if I call you that, since we are all friends now?… I think you are too easily influenced by others. This Mr Jones should not prey so on your mind. Forget him and his lunacies… you do not need him now.
Again, the note of desperation in her voice.
– Forget him, said Flapping Eagle, and passed out into the soup.
XLIV Ostriches & Intrusion
– ELFRIDA, SAID FLAPPING EAGLE, did you know my sister Bird-Dog?
Elfrida’s eyes widened; eventually she stammered:
– I… I know the name… your sister? Flapping Eagle nodded, and saw a steely composure return to Elfrida as she said:
– I’m afraid I have bad news for you. Bird-Dog is dead.