Chapter 17: The Hellespont — Crossing the Divide

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Chapter 17 opens with Niven alone in the library of his Piccadilly club, a space he values precisely because it allows him to brood undisturbed. The club's masculine leather chairs and hushed atmosphere are interrupted when a waiter approaches with a discreet announcement: a woman is downstairs asking for him. The waiter's offer to dispose of her underscores how unwelcome female presence is within these walls — women are not permitted in the club at all, and the woman's mere appearance at the door constitutes what the narrative describes as a dangerous invasion in the eyes of the members.

The woman is not a surprise visitor, however. Niven has arranged the meeting himself. He swiftly escorts her out of the club and into his car, driving to the Lamb and Flag pub, a more suitable venue for the business they have to conduct. In the pub's snug, the nature of that business becomes clear. The woman is a member of the Forty Thieves, and Niven places a ten-pound note on the table before her. She pockets it discreetly and, in exchange, hands him a shabby handbag — one that seems hardly worth the money he has paid for it.

Niven's thoughts during this exchange reveal something about his character. He reflects that the woman is not his type, though he admits he does not really have a type. What he does have is a preference: he likes women he can forget the moment they are out of his sight. This is precisely why Gwendolen Kelling continues to annoy him. She lingers in his memory, and she is, in his own assessment, definitely and categorically not his type.

The chapter closes with Niven throwing the handbag into his car and setting off along the Mall. He is heading toward Knightsbridge and the Warrender, but he senses that the journey is not as simple as crossing the straits of Hyde Park Corner. He compares himself to someone swimming the Hellespont — a crossing, he notes, that does not end well.

Key Events

Niven is interrupted in his club library by news of a woman waiting downstairs
He escorts the woman out of the club (where women are forbidden) and drives to the Lamb and Flag pub
He pays her ten pounds in exchange for a shabby handbag
Niven reflects on his preference for forgettable women and his irritation at remembering Gwendolen Kelling
He drives along the Mall toward the Warrender, sensing the journey is more fraught than it appears, and compares it to swimming the Hellespont

Character Development

This chapter is a compact character study of Niven, revealing several layers of his personality in a short span.

First, there is his relationship to the club. The club is a refuge for him — a place to be left alone to brood. This suggests a man who carries weight, who needs solitude to process whatever is on his mind. The club's all-male environment also places him within a particular social world, one where women are excluded and where a woman's presence at the door is treated as a kind of threat.

Second, there is his attitude toward women. Niven's stated preference for women he can forget the moment they leave his sight is a striking admission. It suggests emotional detachment, perhaps even a deliberate strategy of avoiding entanglement. The fact that Gwendolen Kelling breaks this pattern — that he still remembers her — is presented as a source of irritation. She intrudes on his carefully maintained emotional distance. His insistence that she is definitely, categorically not his type reads as an attempt to convince himself as much as anyone else.

Third, there is his involvement in the exchange with the Forty Thieves member. Niven is comfortable conducting shady business in a pub, paying for what appears to be goods of dubious provenance. The handbag is described as barely fit for rag and bone, yet he pays ten pounds for it — a significant sum. This suggests the handbag's value lies not in its condition but in its contents or its significance to someone else.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

The Hellespont. The chapter's title and closing image invoke the Hellespont, the narrow strait in Greek mythology that Leander swam nightly to reach his lover Hero, until one night he drowned. Niven's comparison of his own journey to swimming the Hellespont — and his observation that that was not a story that ended well — casts his current undertaking as a doomed crossing. The physical journey from Piccadilly to Knightsbridge is trivial, but Niven senses the real journey is far more dangerous.

Male club culture and the exclusion of women. The club is a space defined by the absence of women. The waiter's offer to dispose of the woman downstairs, and the description of her presence as a dangerous invasion, reveal a social world built on rigid gender boundaries. Niven's willingness to cross those boundaries — by arranging to meet a woman, even if he must escort her out first — shows he operates both within and against this world.

Memory and forgetfulness. Niven's preference for forgettable women is a motif that runs through the chapter. His irritation at remembering Gwendolen Kelling suggests that memory is a form of vulnerability for him. The women he can forget pose no threat; the one he cannot remember is a persistent disturbance.

The handbag as plot device. The exchange of money for a shabby handbag is the chapter's central action. The handbag's condition contrasts sharply with the ten-pound price, signaling that its value lies elsewhere — in what it contains, or in what possessing it enables Niven to do. The chapter deliberately withholds the handbag's significance, creating suspense.

Bribery and exchange. The transaction at the Lamb and Flag is presented as a straightforward exchange, but the imbalance between the money and the object suggests a deeper economy at work — one involving favors, information, or leverage.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter 17 is brief but significant. It advances the plot through the handbag exchange, placing a concrete object in Niven's possession that will presumably matter in subsequent chapters. It deepens our understanding of Niven, revealing his emotional detachment, his comfort with shady dealings, and his complicated feelings about Gwendolen Kelling. The Hellespont metaphor introduces a note of foreboding, suggesting that Niven's current course is heading toward disaster. The chapter also reinforces the novel's interest in the social worlds of 1920s London — the masculine club, the pub, the criminal underworld of the Forty Thieves — and the ways characters move between them.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Niven compare his journey to swimming the Hellespont, and what does this suggest about his situation?

The Hellespont is the strait in Greek mythology that Leander swam to reach his lover, until he drowned on one crossing. Niven's comparison suggests he sees his current undertaking — the drive to the Warrender with the handbag — as a crossing that carries real risk. The physical distance is short, but the metaphorical distance is vast and dangerous. His observation that the story does not end well signals that he anticipates trouble ahead, even if he is proceeding anyway.

2. What does Niven's preference for forgettable women reveal about his character, and why does Gwendolen Kelling stand out?

Niven's preference for women he can forget the moment they leave his sight reveals a deliberate emotional detachment. He seems to want relationships that leave no trace, that make no demands on his memory or his feelings. Gwendolen Kelling breaks this pattern — he still remembers her, and this irritates him. Her persistence in his memory suggests she has affected him in a way he cannot control, which threatens his carefully maintained distance. His insistence that she is definitely, categorically not his type reads as an attempt to reassert control over a feeling he cannot dismiss.

3. What does the exchange at the Lamb and Flag suggest about the nature of Niven's dealings?

The exchange — ten pounds for a handbag barely fit for rag and bone — is deliberately imbalanced. Niven is paying far more than the object is worth, which suggests the handbag's value lies in what it contains or represents. His willingness to conduct this transaction in a pub, with a member of the Forty Thieves, places him within the criminal economy of the novel. The chapter withholds the handbag's significance, but the exchange establishes Niven as someone who operates in the gray areas of London society, comfortable with transactions that would not bear close scrutiny.