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Summary: Book III: Chapters 13 & 14

Chapter 13

As Book III opens, Griffin has completely cut Robin out, and Robin struggles with his conscience after his departure from the Hermes Society. Meanwhile, he and his cohort prepare for a series of extremely difficult written and oral exams that will determine their future at Babel, and often find themselves dissolving into a state of panic, hysteria, and mental deterioration. One day, Robin thinks he sees Anthony, though he decides he must be hallucinating since Anthony disappeared in Barbados. 

One of the exams is a silver-working test where they each have to design a unique match-pair to show they have an "instinct for meaning." As they prepare, the cohort realizes that many existing match-pairs were conceived by Eveline "Evie" Brooke, whose desk Playfair once told Letty to stay away from. However, the desk remains untouched, implying that Evie is no longer at Babel. This theory is supported by a noticeable pattern in her work—she was once highly prolific in producing match-pairs, but then suddenly stopped. She studied in the same year as Anthony—along with Griffin, as Robin privately notes—which leads the cohort to suspect that she too may have gone missing.

Exams arrive and Robin does fairly well. Robin, Ramy, and Letty are all pleased with their silver-working exams, but Victoire seems upset. She used a Kreyòl word for part of her original match-pair and although it was extremely successful, her advisor said it wasn't useful because no one speaks Kreyòl. Victoire argued that it would be useful in Haiti but her advisor only laughed. Victoire then produced a French and English match-pair instead, and her advisor revealed that all four of them passed the exam.

Chapter 14

At the end of the term, Oxford throws one of its famous luxury balls and Letty convinces them all to attend, despite reluctance on behalf of the rest of their cohort. The ball is extravagant, a monstrous display of excess wealth. Colin approaches, rudely mistaking Victoire for a servant and then defending his mistake by arguing that all serving staff look the same. Later, Letty tries to get Ramy to dance with her but he refuses, saying a person of color would not be welcome on the dance floor. One of Pendennis's friends, Vincy Woolcombe, approaches and flirts with a pleased Victoire who accepts his invitation for a dance. As they dance, Robin lurks on the sidelines, Ramy standing loyally by his side. Robin tells Ramy that Letty loves him and asks why he won’t dance with her.

They are interrupted by a commotion on the dance floor. Pendennis and his friends have cornered Letty and Victoire, making lewd, sexual comments. Ramy ushers the girls away and Robin faces off with Pendennis, who calls Robin a racial slur. Knowing that fighting is prohibited at Oxford, Robin defuses the situation and departs. Outside, Ramy blames Letty for making them come to the ball in the first place but Victoire interjects to say that it is no one's fault. The four depart for Babel and begin to enjoy their night. Later, Letty cries with Robin, lamenting that Ramy does not love her. Privately, Robin reflects that Ramy may be hesitant due to rules against interracial relationships or perhaps he just doesn't like her. However, he tries to offer her comfort. At the end of the night, the four of them walk home through the local graveyard where they find a grave marked with Evie Brooke's name, indicating she died five years prior.

Previous section Chapters 11 & 12 Next section Chapter 15 & Interlude: Ramy

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