An Officer and a Spy

by Robert Harris

But it has always been my temperament to prefer a tiny amount of the excellent to a plenitude of the mediocre;

His trim figure and beard, his neat appearance, his mild voice, his economical gestures—all convey an air of supreme competence. “Leave it to me,” his personage seems to say. “I have made a study of all that is difficult in this world, I have mastered it, and I am ready to place my mastery at your disposal for an appropriate fee.”