she is devoid of the mysticism and rhetoric of Ivanovitch. He makes serious efforts in deceiving her and takes pleasure when he succeeds. In the end, Antonovna admits to the narrator that she bears a grudging respect for Razumov because he confessed of his own volition and from a position of safety. Tekla: The dame de compagnie of Madame de S—, Tekla was the daughter of a clerk in the Finance Ministry. Distressed by seeing her family living on a government salary when half of Russia was starving, she left them at a young age to live with revolutionaries where she went through great hardship. As a result, she has sustained a hatred of Finance Ministries and has done odd jobs for revolutionaries. She takes dictation from the psychologically abusive Ivanovitch. Razumov notes that Tekla is perpetually terrified in the presence of Madame de S— and Peter Ivanovitch. At the end of the novel, she takes a crippled Razumov back to Russia and looks after him. It has been suggested that Conrad was influenced by the legend of Saint Thecla to create Tekla. Minor characters The narrator: A passive, obscure teacher of languages. Conrad often uses that device to elaborate his views on Russia. He wishes to advise Natalia but because he is old and a Westerner, he feels the gap between them is too big for Natalia to listen to him. Mrs Haldin: The world-weary old mother of Victor and Natalia, she becomes suspicious when she does not receive news of Victor for some time after Mr. de P—'s assassination. After she learns of his execution, she falls ill. When she learns of Razumov, she wants to meet him. In the end of the novel, she dies. She is described as having had a fine, lucid intellect in her youth. Prince K.: A Russian aristocrat and ex-Guardsman who acts as Razumov's sponsor, it is also implied he is Razumov's father. Before P’s assassination Razumov had met him only once, when he was summoned to the office of an obscure attorney, and Prince K. encouraged him to do well in his studies and shook his hand. He is married to an aristocratic lady, who has a temper and is rumoured to beat him. Razumov turns to Prince K. for help after he finds Haldin in his room, having no other person to rely on. Prince K is angry at first