βListen, weβve got to have codenames for them. D'you remember the nursery rhyme βTinker, tailor, soldier, sailorβ? Finish it.β
βRichman, poorman, beggerman, thief.β
βBetween us weβd make one marvellous man.β
βChristβ¦ Christ, man, we were children.β
βTopicality is always suspect.β
βIβm sorry. Traffic. I shouldβve walked.β
βYouβve got that Britain-can-make-it look about you. Very intimidating.β
βIf youβre not on your own, I swear Iβll break your neck.β
βOne word. Just ONE codename. If you have to scrawl it on the front door of the Embassy in Prague, or phone our resident hood and shout it in his ear before you go undergroundβ¦ if thereβs some kind of fumble and thatβs necessaryβ¦ just give me that one word.β
βNo, you must sit next to me. Itβs safer.β
βYouβre officially absent without leave. On the wanted list.β
βIβve got a story to tell you. Itβs all about spies. And if itβs true, which I think it is, you boys are gonna need a whole new organisation, right?β
βYou had all the right qualifications for dismissal - good at your work, loyal, discreetβ¦β
βWe have a rotten apple, ________, and the maggots are eating up the Circus.β
βI donβt know. Thatβs the point about secrets.β
βIt changed my life. You might find itβs going to change all your lives.β
βWell enjoy yourself, my son, but donβt break any eggs, please.β
βI have to live here! Remember?β
βI hate the real world.Β β
βItβs the oldest question of all. Who can spy on the spies?β
βDo you know what is meant by the word βmoleβ? Moles burrow deep into the fabric of western imperialism.β
βCommon-law marriage. Unofficial, but permanent.β
βI know that look. Iβm breaking into the Circus, playing Burglar Bill, am I?β
βWhat the hell are you doing here, you pariah?β
βPoor loves. Trained to Empire, trained to rule the waves. Englishmen could be proud then. They couldβ¦ All gone.β
βYouβre an educated sort of a swine.β
βUltra, ultra-sensitive, in fact,________.β
βIn that case, Iβll try and keep my mouth ultra, ultra-shut.β
βThis is new. I fancy this very much.β
βWe used to be a rather classy bunch. Why are we so vulgar these days?β
βThis document sheds an extraordinary sidelight on Soviet aggressive thinking.β
βDoes that mean they like it?β
βIf they hurt a hair on _______βs head, Iβll strip the entire network in this country bare. You pass that on. Iβll make him a laughing-stock!β
βWriting your memoirs, _______?β
βRight, now. Anybody sees him again, let me know? Or any other sinister bodies, understand?β
βDonβt want juju men wandering around, pretending they donβt know we exist.β βFirst glimpse, tell me, right?β
βItβs irreplaceable! Thanks to socialism.β
βWeβve got a secret, havenβt we? I can trust you, I know that. Weβre good at keeping secrets, you and me.β
βAre you working undercover, like Bulldog Drummond in the book?β
ββ¦Yes. Well, anyone will do. It makes no difference now.β
βHow did you get me?β
βThe Czechs havenβt got his real name yet, theyβre using his workname Ellis.β
βThey sacked you for fibbing?β
βOh, I couldnβt convince them that I wasnβt involved.β
βTell me about the networksβ¦ didnβt anyone get out?β
βFor Christβs sake letβs go somewhere we can breathe!β
βIt was a foul American thing. Camel, actually. I saw the brand.β
βAnd thatβs what Iβve been doing: obeying orders and forgetting!β