Only when Commissioner Lin turned his back to him did Robin realize he had been dismissed.
Unsure what to do, he gave an awkward, perfunctory bow and left the room. Mr Baylis was waiting in the corridor, looking disgruntled.
‘Anything?’ he demanded as servants escorted them out of the hall.
‘Nothing,’ Robin said. He felt slightly dizzy. The audience had ended so abruptly that he didn’t know what to make of it. He’d been so focused on the mechanics of translation, on conveying Mr Baylis’s precise meanings, word for word, that he’d failed to grasp the shift in the conversation. He sensed something momentous had just occurred, but he wasn’t sure of what, nor his role in it. He kept going over the negotiation in his head, wondering if he’d made some disastrous mistake. But it had all been so civil. They had only reiterated positions well established on paper, had they not? ‘He seemed to have considered the matter settled.’
Mr Baylis hurried immediately to the upstairs offices upon their return to the English Factory, leaving Robin alone in the lobby. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He was supposed to have been out interpreting all afternoon, but Mr Baylis had absconded without any parting instructions. He waited in the lobby for a few minutes, then at last made his way to the sitting room, assuming it would be best to stay in a public area in case Mr Baylis decided he still needed him. Ramy, Letty, and Victoire sat at a table playing a game of cards.
Robin took the empty seat beside Ramy. ‘Don’t you have silver to polish?’
‘Finished early.’ Ramy dealt him a hand. ‘Gets a bit boring here when you can’t speak the language, to be honest. We’re thinking we might take a boat trip to see the Fa Ti river gardens later when we’re allowed. How was the meeting with the Commissioner?’
‘Strange,’ said Robin. ‘We didn’t get anywhere. He seemed very interested in me, though.’
‘Because he can’t figure out why a Chinese interpreter is working for the enemy?’
‘I suppose,’ Robin said. He couldn’t shake a sense of foreboding, as if watching a gathering storm, waiting for the skies to split. The mood in the sitting room seemed too light-hearted, too tranquil. ‘How are you all? You think they’ll give you anything more interesting to do?’
‘Not likely.’ Victoire yawned. ‘We’re abandoned children. Mama and Papa are too busy wrecking economies to deal with us.’
‘Good Lord.’ Suddenly Letty stood. Her eyes were fixed, wide and horrified, on the window, where she pointed. ‘Look – what in God’s name—’
A great fire roared on the opposite bank. But the burn, they saw when they rushed to the window, was a controlled burn; it only seemed catastrophic because of the billowing flames and smoke. When Robin squinted, he saw that the flames were contained at their source to a pile of chests loaded on deep-bellied boats that had been pushed out to the shallows. A few seconds later he smelled their contents: a sickly sweet scent carried by wind across the coast through the windows of the English Factory.
Opium. Commissioner Lin was burning the opium.
‘Robin.’ Professor Lovell stormed into the room, followed closely by Mr Baylis. Both looked furious; Professor Lovell’s face in particular was twisted with a rage Robin had never seen on him. ‘What did you do?’
‘I – what?’ Robin looked from Professor Lovell to the window, baffled. ‘I don’t understand—’
‘What did you say?’ Professor Lovell repeated, shaking Robin by the collar. ‘What did you tell him?’
It was the first time Professor Lovell had laid hands on him since that day in the library. Robin didn’t know what Professor Lovell might do now – the look in his eyes was beastly, wholly unrecognizable. Please, Robin thought wildly. Please, hurt me, hit me, because then we’ll know. Then there won’t be any question. But the spell passed as quickly as it came. Professor Lovell let go of Robin, blinking, as if coming back to himself. He took a step back and dusted off the front of his jacket.
Around them Ramy and Victoire stood tense, both crouching as if to spring between them.
‘Excuse me, I simply—’ Professor Lovell cleared his throat. ‘Get your things and meet me outside. All of you. The Hellas is waiting in the bay.’
‘But aren’t we headed to Macau next?’ Letty asked. ‘Our notices said—’
‘The situation’s changed,’ Professor Lovell said curtly. ‘We’ve booked early passage back to England. Go.’