Quotation from: The Secret Agent

Written by: Joseph Conrad

"You go," repeated Mrs Verloc. "I've got my apron on."

Mr Verloc obeyed woodenly, stony-eyed, and like an automaton whose face
had been painted red. And this resemblance to a mechanical figure went
so far that he had an automaton's absurd air of being aware of the
machinery inside of him.

He closed the parlour door, and Mrs Verloc moving briskly, carried the
tray into the kitchen. She washed the cups and some other things before
she stopped in her work to listen. No sound reached her. The customer
was a long time in the shop. It was a customer, because if he had not
been Mr Verloc would have taken him inside. Undoing the strings of her
apron with a jerk, she threw it on a chair, and walked back to the
parlour slowly.