Wynand stood still. He looked at the woman. He saw the white flesh, the mouth hanging open in triumph, the face of self-righteous evil. Passers-by had seized the woman and she was screaming unspeakable obscenities. Wynand raised his hand, shook his head, gesturing for them to let the creature go, and walked into the Banner Building, a smear of greenish-yellow across his cheek.
"Ellsworth, what are we going to do?" moaned Alvah Scarret. "What are we going to do?"
Ellsworth Toohey sat perched on the edge of his desk, and smiled as if he wished he could kiss Alvah Scarret.
"Why don't they drop the damn thing, Ellsworth? Why doesn't something break to take it off the front pages? Couldn't we scare up an international situation or something? In all my born days I've never seen people go so wild over so little. A dynamiting job! Christ, Ellsworth, it's a back-page story. We get them every month, practically with every strike, remember?--the furriers' strike, the dry cleaners' strike ... oh what the hell! Why all this fury? Who cares? Why do they care?"
"There are occasions, Alvah, when the issues at stake are not the ostensible facts at all. And the public reaction seems out of all proportion, but isn't. You shouldn't be so glum about it. I'm surprised at you. You should be thanking your stars. You see, this is what I meant by waiting for the right moment. The right moment always comes. Damned if I expected it to be handed to me on a platter like that, though. Cheer up, Alvah. This is where we take over."
"Take over what?"
"The Wynand papers."
"You're crazy, Ellsworth. Like all of them. You're crazy. What do you mean? Gail holds fifty-one per cent of ..."
"Alvah, I love you. You're wonderful, Alvah. I love you, but I wish to God you weren't such a God-damn fool, so I could talk to you! I wish I could talk to somebody."
Ellsworth Toohey tried to talk to Gus Webb, one evening, but it was disappointing. Gus Webb drawled:
"Trouble with you, Ellsworth, is you're too romantic. Too God-damn metaphysical. What's all the gloating about? There's no practical value to the thing. Nothing to get your teeth into, except for a week or two. I wish he'd blasted it when it was full of people--a few children blown to pieces--then you'd have something. Then I'd love it. The movement could use it. But this? Hell, they'll send the fool to the clink and that's that. You--a realist? You're an incurable specimen of the intelligentsia, Ellsworth, that's all you are. You think you're the man of the future? Don't kid yourself, sweetheart. I am."
Toohey sighed. "You're right, Gus," he said.
XIV
"IT'S KIND OF YOU, MR. TOOHEY," SAID MRS. KEATING HUMBLY. "I'M glad you came. I don't know what to do with Petey. He won't see anyone. He won't go to his office. I'm scared, Mr. Toohey. Forgive me, I mustn't whine. Maybe you can help, pull him out of it. He thinks so much of you, Mr. Toohey."
"Yes, I'm sure. Where is he?"
"Right here. In his room. This way, Mr. Toohey."
The visit was unexpected. Toohey had not been here for years. Mrs. Keating felt very grateful. She led the way down the hall and opened a door without knocking, afraid to announce the visitor, afraid of her son's refusal. She said brightly:
"Look, Petey, look what a guest I have for you!"
Keating lifted his head. He sat at a littered table, bent under a squat lamp that gave a poor light; he was doing a crossword puzzle torn out of a newspaper. There was a tall glass on the table, with a dried red rim that had been tomato juice; a box containing a jigsaw puzzle; a deck of cards; a Bible.
"Hello, Ellsworth," he said, smiling. He leaned forward to rise, but forgot the effort, halfway.
Mrs. Keating saw the smile and stepped out hastily, relieved, closing the door.
The smile went, not quite completed. It had been an instinct of memory. Then he remembered many things which he had tried not to understand.
"Hello, Ellsworth," he repeated helplessly.
Toohey stood before him, examining the room, the table, with curiosity.
"Touching, Peter," he said. "Very touching. I'm sure he'd appreciate it if he saw it."
"Who?"
"Not very talkative these days, are you, Peter? Not very sociable?"
"I wanted to see you, Ellsworth. I wanted to talk to you."
Toohey grasped a chair by the back, swung it through the air, in a broad circle like a flourish, planted it by the table and sat down.
"Well, that's what I came here for," he said. "To hear you talk."
Keating said nothing.
"Well?"
"You mustn't think I didn't want to see you, Ellsworth. It was only ... what I told mother about not letting anyone in ... it was on account of the newspaper people. They won't leave me alone."
"My, how times change, Peter. I remember when one couldn't keep you away from newspaper people."
"Ellsworth, I haven't any sense of humor left. Not any at all."
"That's lucky. Or you'd die laughing."
"I'm so tired, Ellsworth.... I'm glad you came."
The light glanced off Toohey's glasses and Keating could not see his eyes; only two circles filled with a metallic smear, like the dead headlights of a car reflecting the approach of something from a distance.
"Think you can get away with it?" asked Toohey.
"With what?"
"The hermit act. The great penance. The loyal silence."
"Ellsworth, what's the matter with you?"
"So he's not guilty, is he? So you want us to please leave him alone, do you?"
Keating's shoulders moved, more an intention than the reality of sitting up straight, but still an intention, and his jaw moved enough to ask:
"What do you want?"
"The whole story."
"What for?"
"Want me to make it easier for you? Want a good excuse, Peter? I could, you know. I could give you thirty-three reasons, all noble, and you'd swallow any one of them. But I don't feel like making it easier for you. So I'll just tell you the truth: to send him to the penitentiary, your hero, your idol, your generous friend, your guardian angel!"
"I have nothing to tell you, Ellsworth."
"While you're being shocked out of the last of your wits you'd better hang on to enough to realize that you're no match for me. You'll talk if I want you to talk and I don't feel like wasting time. Who designed Cortlandt?"
"I did."
"Do you know that I'm an architectural expert?"
"I designed Cortlandt."
"Like the Cosmo-Slotnick Building?"
"What do you want from me?"
"I want you on the witness stand, Petey. I want you to tell the story in court. Your friend isn't as obvious as you are. I don't know what he's up to. That remaining at the scene was a bit too smart. He knew he'd be suspected and he's playing it subtle. God knows what he intends to say in court. I don't intend to let him get away with it. The motive is what they're all stuck on. I know the motive. Nobody will believe me if I try to explain it. But you'll state it under oath. You'll tell the truth. You'll tell them who designed Cortlandt and why."
"I designed it."
"If you want to say that on the stand, you'd better do something about your muscular control. What are you shaking for?"
"Leave me alone."
"Too late, Petey. Ever read Faust?"
"What do you want?"
"Howard Roark's neck."
"He's not my friend. He's never been. You know what I think of him."
"I know, you God-damn fool! I know you've worshiped him all your life. You've knelt and worshiped, while stabbing him in the back. You didn't even have the courage of your own malice. You couldn't go one way or the other. You hated me--oh, don't you suppose I knew it? -and you followed me. You loved him and you've destroyed him. Oh, you've destroyed him all right, Petey, and now there's no place to run, and you'll have to go through with it!"
"What's he to you? What difference does it make to you?"
"You should have asked that long ago. But you didn't. Which means that you knew it.
You've always known it. That's what's making you shake. Why should I help you lie to yourself? I've done that for ten years. That's what you came to me for. That's what they all come to me for. But you can't get something for nothing. Ever. My socialistic theories to the contrary notwithstanding. You got what you wanted from me. It's my turn now."
"I won't talk about Howard. You can't make me talk about Howard."
"No? Why don't you throw me out of here? Why don't you take me by the throat and choke me? You're much stronger than I am. But you won't. You can't. Do you see the nature of power, Petey? Physical power? Muscle or guns or money? You and Gail Wynand should get together. You have a lot to tell him. Come on, Peter. Who designed Cortlandt?"
"Leave me alone."
"Who designed Cortlandt?"
"Let me go!"
"Who designed Cortlandt?"
"It's worse ... what you're doing ... it's much worse ..."
"Than what?"
"Than what I did to Lucius Heyer."
"What did you do to Lucius Heyer?"
"I killed him."
"What are you talking about?"
"That's why it was better. Because I let him die."
"Stop raving."
"Why do you want to kill Howard?"
"I don't want to kill him. I want him in jail. You understand? In jail. In a cell. Behind bars. Locked, stopped, strapped--and alive. He'll get up when they tell him to. He'll eat what they give him. He'll move when he's told to move and stop when he's told. He'll walk to the jute mill, when he's told, and he'll work as he's told. They'll push him, if he doesn't move fast enough, and they'll slap his face when they feel like it, and they'll beat him with rubber hose if he doesn't obey. And he'll obey. He'll take orders. He'll take orders!"
"Ellsworth!" Keating screamed. "Ellsworth!"
"You make me sick. Can't you take the truth? No, you want your sugar-coating. That's why I prefer Gus Webb. There's one who has no illusions."
Mrs. Keating threw the door open. She had heard the scream.
"Get out of here!" Toohey snapped at her.
She backed out, and Toohey slammed the door.
Keating raised his head. "You have no right to talk to Mother that way. She had nothing to do with you."
"Who designed Cortlandt?"
Keating got up. He dragged his feet to a dresser, opened a drawer, took out a crumpled piece of paper and handed it to Toohey. It was his contract with Roark.
Toohey read it and chuckled once, a dry snap of sound. Then he looked at Keating.
"You're a complete success, Peter, as far as I'm concerned. But at times I have to want to turn away from the sight of my successes."
Keating stood by the dresser, his shoulders slumped, his eyes empty.
"I didn't expect you to have it in writing like that, with his signature. So that's what he's done for you--and this is what you do in return.... No, I take back the insults, Peter. You had to do it. Who are you to reverse the laws of history? Do you know what this paper is? The impossible perfect, the dream of the centuries, the aim of all of mankind's great schools of thought. You harnessed him. You made him work for you. You took his achievement, his reward, his money, his glory, his name. We only thought and wrote about it. You gave a practical demonstration. Every philosopher from Plato up should thank you. Here it is, the philosopher's stone--for turning gold into lead. I should be pleased, but I guess I'm human and I can't help it, I'm not pleased, I'm just sick. The others, Plato and all the rest, they really thought it would turn lead into gold. I knew the truth from the first. I've been honest with myself, Peter, and that's the hardest form of honesty. The one you all run from at any price. And right now I don't blame you, it is the hardest one, Peter."
He sat down wearily and held the paper by the corners in both hands. He said:
"If you want to know how hard it is, I'll tell you: right now I want to burn this paper. Make what you wish of that. I don't claim too great a credit, because I know that tomorrow I'll send this to the district attorney. Roark will never know it--and it would make no difference to him if he knew--but in the truth of things, there was one moment when I wanted to burn this paper."
He folded the paper cautiously and slipped it into his pocket. Keating followed his gestures, moving his whole head, like a kitten watching a ball on a string.
"You make me sick," said Toohey. "God, how you make me sick, all you hypocritical sentimentalists! You go along with me, you spout what I teach you, you profit by it--but you haven't the grace to admit to yourself what you're doing. You turn green when you see the truth. I suppose that's in the nature of your natures and that's precisely my chief weapon--but God! I get tired of it. I must allow myself a moment free of you. That's what I have to put on an act for all my life--for mean little mediocrities like you. To protect your sensibilities, your posturings, your conscience and the peace of the mind you haven't got. That's the price I pay for what I want--but at least I know that I've got to pay it. And I have no illusions about the price or the purchase."
"What do you ... want ... Ellsworth?"
"Power, Petey."
There were steps in the apartment above, someone skipping gaily, a few sounds on the ceiling as of four or five tap beats. The light fixture jingled and Keating's head moved up in obedience. Then it came back to Toohey. Toohey was smiling, almost indifferently.
"You ... always said ..." Keating began thickly, and stopped.
"I've always said just that. Clearly, precisely and openly. It's not my fault if you couldn't hear. You could, of course. You didn't want to. Which was safer than deafness--for me. I said I intended to rule. Like all my spiritual predecessors. But I'm luckier than they were. I inherited the fruit of their efforts and I shall be the one who'll see the great dream made real. I see it all around me today. I recognize it. I don't like it. I didn't expect to like it. Enjoyment is not my destiny. I shall find such satisfaction as my capacity permits. I shall rule."
"Whom ... ?"
"You. The world. It's only a matter of discovering the lever. If you learn how to rule one single man's soul, you can get the rest of mankind. It's the soul, Peter, the soul. Not whips or swords or fire or guns. That's why the Caesars, the Attilas, the Napoleons were fools and did not last. We will. The soul, Peter, is that which can't be ruled. It must be broken. Drive a wedge in, get your fingers on it--and the man is yours. You won't need a whip--he'll bring it to you and ask to be whipped. Set him in reverse--and his own mechanism will do your work for you. Use him against himself. Want to know how it's done? See if I ever lied to you. See if you haven't heard all this for years, but didn't want to hear, and the fault is yours, not mine. There are many ways. Here's one. Make man feel small. Make him feel guilty. Kill his aspiration and his integrity. That's difficult. The worst among you gropes for an ideal in his own twisted way. Kill integrity by internal corruption. Use it against itself. Direct it toward a goal destructive of all integrity. Preach selflessness. Tell man that he must live for others. Tell men that altruism is the ideal. Not a single one of them has ever achieved it and not a single one ever will. His every living instinct screams against it. But don't you see what you accomplish? Man realizes that he's incapable of what he's accepted as the noblest virtue--and it gives him a sense of guilt, of sin, of his own basic unworthiness. Since the supreme ideal is beyond his grasp, he gives up eventually all ideals, all aspiration, all sense of his personal value. He feels himself obliged to preach what he can't practice. But one can't be good halfway or honest approximately. To preserve one's integrity is a hard battle. Why preserve that which one knows to be corrupt already? His soul gives up its self-respect. You've got him. He'll obey. He'll be glad to obey--because he can't trust himself, he feels uncertain, he feels unclean. That's one way. Here's another. Kill man's sense of values. Kill his capacity to recognize greatness or to achieve it. Great men can't be ruled. We don't want any great men. Don't deny the conception of greatness. Destroy it from within. The great is the rare, the difficu
lt, the exceptional. Set up standards of achievement open to all, to the least, to the most inept--and you stop the impetus to effort in all men, great or small. You stop all incentive to improvement, to excellence, to perfection. Laugh at Roark and hold Peter Keating as a great architect. You've destroyed architecture. Build up Lois Cook and you've destroyed literature. Hail Ike and you've destroyed the theater. Glorify Lancelot Clokey and you've destroyed the press. Don't set out to raze all shrines--you'll frighten men. Enshrine mediocrity--and the shrines are razed. Then there's another way. Kill by laughter. Laughter is an instrument of human joy. Learn to use it as a weapon of destruction. Turn it into a sneer. It's simple. Tell them to laugh at everything. Tell them that a sense of humor is an unlimited virtue. Don't let anything remain sacred in a man's soul--and his soul won't be sacred to him. Kill reverence and you've killed the hero in man. One doesn't reverence with a giggle. He'll obey and he'll set no limits to his obedience--anything goes--nothing is too serious. Here's another way. This is most important. Don't allow men to be happy. Happiness is self-contained and self-sufficient. Happy men have no time and no use for you. Happy men are free men. So kill their joy in living. Take away from them whatever is dear or important to them. Never let them have what they want. Make them feel that the mere fact of a personal desire is evil. Bring them to a state where saying 'I want' is no longer a natural right, but a shameful admission. Altruism is of great help in this. Unhappy men will come to you. They'll need you. They'll come for consolation, for support, for escape. Nature allows no vacuum. Empty man's soul--and the space is yours to fill. I don't see why you should look so shocked, Peter. This is the oldest one of all. Look back at history. Look at any great system of ethics, from the Orient up. Didn't they all preach the sacrifice of personal joy? Under all the complications of verbiage, haven't they all had a single leitmotif: sacrifice, renunciation, self-denial? Haven't you been able to catch their theme song--'Give up, give up, give up, give up'? Look at the moral atmosphere of today. Everything enjoyable, from cigarettes to sex to ambition to the profit motive, is considered depraved or sinful. Just prove that a thing makes men happy--and you've damned it. That's how far we've come. We've tied happiness to guilt. And we've got mankind by the throat. Throw your first-born into a sacrificial furnace--lie on a bed of nails--go into the desert to mortify the flesh--don't dance--don't go to the movies on Sunday--don't try to get rich--don't smoke--don't drink. It's all the same line. The great line. Fools think that taboos of this nature are just nonsense. Something left over, old-fashioned. But there's always a purpose in nonsense. Don't bother to examine a folly--ask yourself only what it accomplishes. Every system of ethics that preached sacrifice grew into a world power and ruled millions of men. Of course, you must dress it up. You must tell people that they'll achieve a superior kind of happiness by giving up everything that makes them happy. You don't have to be too clear about it. Use big vague words. 'Universal Harmony'--'Eternal Spirit'--'Divine Purpose' --'Nirvana'--'Paradise'--'Racial Supremacy'--'The Dictatorship of the Proletariat.' Internal corruption, Peter. That's the oldest one of all. The farce has been going on for centuries and men still fall for it. Yet the test should be so simple: just listen to any prophet and if you hear him speak of sacrifice--run. Run faster than from a plague. It stands to reason that where there's sacrifice, there's someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there's someone being served. The man who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the master. But if ever you hear a man telling you that you must be happy, that it's your natural right, that your first duty is to yourself--that will be the man who's not after your soul. That will be the man who has nothing to gain from you. But let him come and you'll scream your empty heads off, howling that he's a selfish monster. So the racket is safe for many, many centuries. But here you might have noticed something. I said, 'It stands to reason.' Do you see? Men have a weapon against you. Reason. So you must be very sure to take it away from them. Cut the props from under it. But be careful. Don't deny outright. Never deny anything outright, you give your hand away. Don't say reason is evil--though some have gone that far and with astonishing success. Just say that reason is limited. That there's something above it. What? You don't have to be too clear about it either. The field's inexhaustible. 'Instinct'--'Feeling'--'Revelation'--'Divine Intuition'--'Dialectic Materialism.' If you get caught at some crucial point and somebody tells you that your doctrine doesn't make sense--you're ready for him. You tell him that there's something above sense. That here he must not try to think, he must feel. He must believe. Suspend reason and you play it deuces wild. Anything goes in any manner you wish whenever you need it. You've got him. Can you rule a thinking man? We don't want any thinking men."