Babel : Or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution (9780063021440)

It was a week into the voyage before Robin, Ramy, and Victoire had a private moment to themselves. Halfway through their morning stroll, Letty went back below deck, claiming an upset stomach. Victoire offered half-heartedly to go with her, but Letty waved her off – she was still annoyed with them all, and clearly wanted to be alone.

‘All right.’ Victoire stepped closer to Robin and Ramy as soon as Letty had gone, closing off the gap made by her absence so that the three of them stood tight, an impenetrable silo against the wind. ‘What in God’s name—’

They all started talking at once.

‘Why didn’t—’

‘Do you think Lovell—’

‘When did you first—’

They fell silent. Victoire tried again. ‘So who recruited you?’ she asked Robin. ‘It wouldn’t have been Anthony, he would have told us.’

‘But isn’t Anthony—’

‘No, he’s very much alive,’ said Ramy. ‘Faked his death abroad. But answer the question, Birdie.’

‘Griffin,’ Robin said, still reeling from this revelation. ‘I told you. Griffin Lovell.’

‘Who’s that?’ Victoire asked, at the same time that Ramy said, ‘Lovell?’

‘A former Babel student. I think he’s also – I mean, he said he’s my half-brother. He looks just like me, we think Lovell – I mean, our father—’ Robin was tripping over his words. The Chinese character 布 meant both ‘cloth’ and ‘to relate, to tell’. The truth was embroidered on a cloth tapestry, spread out to display its contents. But Robin, coming clean to his friends at last, had no idea where to start. The image he displayed was a jumbled and confused one, warped no matter how he told it by its complexity. ‘He left Babel several years ago, and then went underground right around Evie Brooke’s – I mean, ah, I think he killed Evie Brooke.’

‘Good heavens,’ Victoire said. ‘Really? Why?’

‘Because she caught him on Hermes business,’ said Robin. ‘I didn’t know until Professor Lovell told me.’

‘And you believe him?’ asked Ramy.

‘Yes,’ said Robin. ‘Yes, I think Griffin would – Griffin is absolutely the kind of person who would have . . .’ He shook his head. ‘Listen, the important thing is that Lovell thinks I was acting alone. Has he talked to either one of you?’

‘Not me,’ said Victoire.

‘Nor I,’ said Ramy. ‘No one’s approached us at all.’

‘That’s good!’ Robin exclaimed. ‘Isn’t it?’

There was an awkward silence. Ramy and Victoire did not look half as relieved as Robin expected.

‘That’s good?’ Ramy said finally. ‘That’s all you’ve got to say?’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Robin.

‘What do you think I mean?’ demanded Ramy. ‘Don’t avoid the subject. How long were you with Hermes?’

There was nothing to do but be honest. ‘Since I started here. Since the very first week.’

‘Are you joking?’

Victoire touched his arm. ‘Ramy, don’t—’

‘Don’t tell me that doesn’t infuriate you,’ Ramy snapped at her. ‘That’s three years. Three years he never told us what he was up to.’

‘Hold on,’ said Robin. ‘Are you angry with me?’

‘Very good, Birdie, you noticed.’

‘I don’t understand – Ramy, what did I do wrong?’

Victoire sighed and glanced out over the water. Ramy gave him a hard glare, and then burst out, ‘Why didn’t you just ask me?’

Robin was stunned by his vehemence. ‘Are you serious?’

‘You’d known Griffin for years,’ said Ramy. ‘Years. And you never thought to tell us about it? You never thought we might like to join up as well?’

Robin could not believe how unfair this was. ‘But you never told me—’

‘I wanted to,’ said Ramy.

‘We were going to,’ said Victoire. ‘We begged Anthony, we almost let it slip so many times – he kept telling us not to, but we decided we would break it to you ourselves, we were going to do it that Sunday—’

‘But you didn’t even ask Griffin, did you?’ Ramy demanded. ‘Three years. Lord, Birdie.’

‘I was trying to protect you,’ Robin said helplessly.

Ramy scoffed. ‘From what? Precisely the community we wanted?’

‘I didn’t want to put you at risk—’

‘Why didn’t you let me decide that for myself?’

‘Because I knew you’d say yes,’ Robin said. ‘Because you’d join up with them on the spot and abdicate everything at Babel, everything you’ve worked for—’

‘Everything I’ve worked for is this!’ Ramy exclaimed. ‘What, you think I came to Babel because I want to be a translator for the Queen? Birdie, I hate it in this country. I hate the way they look at me, I hate being passed around at their wine parties like an animal on display. I hate knowing that my very presence at Oxford is a betrayal of my race and religion, because I’m becoming just that class of person Macaulay hoped to create. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like Hermes since I got here—’

‘But that’s just it,’ said Robin. ‘That’s precisely why it was too risky for you—’

‘And it’s not for you?’

‘No,’ Robin said, suddenly angry. ‘It wasn’t.’