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Summary: Book V: Interlude: Letty & Chapter 26

Interlude: Letty

Letty has always been a hard worker, determined to avoid being seen as dainty or weak. She suffered as a child with a neglectful father who could barely look at her after her mother died in childbirth. Her brother Lincoln is sent to Oxford for an education though it is Letty, not Lincoln, with true academic potential and an ear for languages. If Letty were male, Oxford would have accepted her as a genius. Lincoln trivializes his education, slacking off and producing poor grades. Letty is resentful that he would waste such a wondrous opportunity. She confronts him and they argue, Letty telling her brother that she wishes he were dead. The next morning, a police officer arrives bringing news that Lincoln was killed in a cart accident. 

Letty writes to Lincoln's tutors and is accepted to Oxford where she struggles as a woman. She deals with being overlooked and patronized, lamenting the double standard with which male and female students are treated. As her friends turn to Hermes, she cannot wrap her head around the society's principles, thinking them misguided. She loves her friends but feels as though they are making the same mistake that Lincoln did and that their lack of gratitude will be their downfall. Her principles are questioned and although she warms to the idea of lobbying, she draws the line at blackmail and violence. She abandons Hermes, deciding to save herself since she is unable to save her friends. 

Read more about Letty’s character development throughout the novel.

Chapter 26

Robin and Victoire arrive at Griffin's secret apartment where they question what to do next, knowing they cannot let Ramy and the others die in vain. Looking through Griffin's correspondence, they discover an envelope with Robin's name but he gives it to Victoire, unable to bring himself to read it. They find a lamp that seems to send fire signals to members of the Hermes Society. They write a letter to unknown allies and cast it into the flames where it disappears without burning. The next day, they sneak out to the Old Library to see the damage and collect supplies. It has been decimated and the police have left the corpses in the rubble. Robin is outraged, but Victoire drags him away. 

They head for Babel where they've decided to stage their rebellion and seize control of the tower. Inside, Robin locks eyes with Playfair and jumps on a table, gathering everyone's attention. He reveals Parliament's plans to force a war on China, and Oxford’s own involvement. Robin argues that to wage their war, Parliament needs Babel—it is Oxford's silver that powers British guns and fleets. If Babel withdraws their help, the war cannot be launched. Victoire interjects to implicate Babel's professors, explaining that opium will be forced into China to make up for England's dwindling supply of silver. She exposes Babel for killing Anthony and others while Robin announces that Lovell was one of the "architects" of the war.

Professor Craft, seeing that what Robin and Victoire are saying holds merit, declares that she believes them. She confronts Playfair who defends his actions, inadvertently confirming Robin and Victoire's claims. Robin implores the scholars of Babel to go on strike and shut down the tower. With the bar he used to kill Lovell, Robin threatens anyone who interferes or tries to escape. The crowd subdues and Robin reflects on the power of violence that Griffin had advocated for. A few students put up a half-hearted fight, but Robin easily keeps them at bay. Playfair points a gun at Robin but Victoire shoots Playfair with one of Griffin's guns. There is a scramble for Playfair's gun and Professor Chakravarti gets hold of it, looking to Robin and letting them know he received Robin and Victoire's message. 

Robin says that they are locking down the tower. Craft warns that the government will send troops to seize Babel but Robin knows they won't. They need Babel too badly to risk its destruction, noting that "Britain could not hurt Babel without hurting itself." This same logic applies to the colonies; England cannot attack that which it profits from. Babel therefore holds the power to "grind the Empire to a halt."

Robin and Victoire dismiss anyone who wishes to leave, destroying their vials of blood so that the departed cannot reenter. Most scholars depart, carrying an injured Playfair. Only Chakravarti, Craft, and a small handful of students—Ibrahim, Juliana, Yusuf, and Meghana—remain, all of them people of color besides Craft. Robin and Victoire use the new Hermes match-pair to distribute their pamphlets, combining Anthony's "coalition-building rhetoric and Griffin's philosophy of violence." The pamphlets announce Babel's strike and demand that Britain halt the invasion plans. Robin asks if Victoire is okay after shooting Playfair, but Victoire replies that she did it for Anthony and never wishes to speak of it again. 

Previous section Chapters 23–25 Next section Chapters 27 & 28

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