Ashenden · Chapters

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Chapter companions for Ashenden by W. Somerset Maugham.

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Chapter 1
Ashenden
Ashenden, a British author turned spy, is recruited by R. and sent to Switzerland during World War I. He navigates a world of espionage filled with boredom, moral ambiguity, and deception, encountering a cast of characters including the Hairless Mexican, Anastasia Alexandrovna, and Giulia Lazzari. The chapter explores the tension between the romantic ideal of spycraft and its mundane, often cynical reality.
Chapter 2
R.
Ashenden, a writer, returns to England after the outbreak of war and is recruited into the secret service by a middle-aged Colonel known as R. During their meeting, R. recounts a supposedly true espionage incident involving a French minister, a yellow-haired lady, and a stolen dispatch-case, which Ashenden dismisses as a cliché from fiction. Ashenden accepts the job, receiving instructions to go to Geneva, and is warned that he will receive no thanks or help if he gets into trouble.
Chapter 3
II: A Domiciliary Visit
Ashenden returns to Geneva by steamer after a stormy crossing from France, where he had delivered a report. He recalls a recent urgent mission: an Indian agent informed him of a Bengali spy in German service who left a black cane trunk of documents in the Zürich station cloakroom. The Germans planned to burgle the station that night to retrieve it. Ashenden traveled to Berne to alert British Intelligence, but it was too late for them to act directly; they instead alerted Swiss authorities. Back in Geneva, Ashenden reflects on his fragmented role in the espionage machine, then deals with a spy named Bernard who attempts blackmail. Ashenden coolly refuses and threatens consequences, leaving Bernard to decide. The chapter ends with Ashenden relaxing in a hot bath, relieved to have avoided arrest.
Chapter 4
III: Miss King
Ashenden, relaxing after a police scare, is summoned to the bedside of Miss King, an elderly English governess who has suffered a stroke. He sits with her through the night, sensing she desperately wants to communicate something important—possibly related to the war or espionage—but she is paralyzed and cannot speak. Despite his attempts to interpret her gaze, she dies after uttering only the word 'England.' The chapter explores Ashenden's internal conflict between cynical rationality and the pull of patriotic duty.
Chapter 5
IV: The Hairless Mexican
Ashenden is introduced to the Hairless Mexican, a flamboyant and dangerous agent, by R. in Lyons. R. explains the mission: intercept a Greek spy, Constantine Andreadi, who is traveling from Constantinople to Rome with secret documents for the German embassy. Ashenden is to accompany the Mexican to Naples, providing funds in exchange for the documents. The chapter details their train journey, the Mexican's eccentric and lethal character, and Ashenden's growing unease about the mission's moral implications.

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Ashenden

R.

II: A Domiciliary Visit

III: Miss King

IV: The Hairless Mexican