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[cinnamonsweater]

how did alec find out about the row?

reading some old discussions from livejournal (as any girl is wont to do on a saturday night) and came across an interesting comment regarding the timeline of ch.16 and a theory about how alec might have learned about laurie and ralph's row:

greerwatson: [...] People are busy, so I doubt if anyone is actually standing around listening in. But the sounds of the row must have carried, even more than the sound of crying. Anyone going up and downstairs will have heard, above or below them, a pair of angry men's voices: it may even have carried into the wards. And the nurse who comes down from "the ward above" is coming from the ward that Laurie is in: she'll know, therefore, that the corporal-with-the-leg is having a fight with the naval-officer-who-visits-him, even if she doesn't hear any of the details. Ralph is a very striking figure; and we know that he's been in the ward more than once, and spent a fair amount of time with Mervyn when Laurie was in London. So timeline: Ralph goes off, followed by Laurie; probably around five-fifteen or so. Alec just misses them. He gets to the ward about a quarter of an hour later.         Laurie is obviously not in his bed. So Alec asks the nurse on duty, since he might just have gone to the washroom. However, he's told that Laurie has gone out for his usual walk. And then he gets the gossip.         He has no difficulty identifying the naval officer, and takes off downstairs after them. At the hospital exit, he asks again, maybe. He's told that the army corporal with the leg has gone out, as usual at this time, but alone. (It's a civilian hospital, so a patient in army uniform would stand out; and Laurie has gone out with his boot every afternoon this week.) So Alec knows that they didn't go together, hence his asking Laurie, "Did you see [Ralph] again?"         Maybe Alec decides to call Ralph, and finds he's not in. (He's gone to hunt up Bunny.) He may ask the nurses on the ward to buzz him when Laurie gets back. But we know that, at six-thirty, he calls Ralph and finds that the phone rings only for a bit, but is then taken off the hook. This means that someone is now there; and Alec hopes that it's Laurie as well as Ralph, and that the phone has simply been silenced so it won't interrupt their making up. However, he obviously had doubts about this.         So he keeps coming back to the ward in case Laurie has returned and the nurses forgot to buzz him or send a message. We know this, because he's clearly made himself a real nuisance to the staff on the ward, to the point where he's somewhat infected them with his urgency.         And then, eightish, Laurie finally gets back to the hospital from the movie.

i have a few (hopefully kinda coherent) thoughts:

the first thing alec says when laurie comes to the office is

"Where's Ralph?" he asked. "Did you see him again?"  "Again?" said Laurie. His slowness was self-protective. He had thought that this empty place was all deadened and dull, as one can think with a raw burn till someone takes the dressing off.  With an edgy, fine-drawn impatience Alec said, "After he went at five, did you go after him? When I rang him up, when he took the receiver off, were you with him then?"  "No," Laurie said.  "You had a row, didn't you?"

so alec knows that ralph went at five, and that laurie would have had to "go after him" rather than go with him. so it seems he already knew about something happening. i get the feeling that he only guesses about them having a row after seeing laurie's condition (along with the knowledge that something's off with ralph, leaving the phone off the hook.) it might also have been unusual for laurie to be there at that time, if he was spending every evening with ralph (also might be why alec might have assumed laurie would be there when he rang?). alec knows about what bunny did, but he doesn't know that andrew wrote laurie or that laurie was in london the previous day. so he doesn't know that laurie would have confronted ralph about it.

he's also shocked that laurie would believe ralph would do such a thing. maybe if alec knew word got back to laurie about what 'ralph' did, he trusted that laurie would know it wasn't true, the two would surmise that it was bunny, and maybe ralph storming off without laurie would be to confront bunny. maybe alec even worried that ralph was in trouble (arrested for assault or worse?) for a split second before asking if they had a row. he obviously doesn't know many details about it, since he had to ask how bad it was. if he truly knew he would have been acting with the same urgency he had after finding out how severe the row was.

thoughts?

[nevertwain]

Alec's behaviour over this episode has always struck me as odd. Why does he wait nearly 24 hours before trying to contact Ralph, and then goes into full-blown panic mode just because Ralph wouldn't pick up the phone?

Timeline:

1/ The previous evening - the day Laurie gets Andrew's letter and goes up to London to see him - Toto finds out that Bunny is two-timing him and they have a row, and goes round to tell Alec that Bunny went to see Andrew.

Now, I think at this point, Alec goes into panic mode because he realises that Bunny will know about him and Ralph sleeping together (the 'blackmail' bit). Ralph has only come back into Alec's life since Dunkirk, about 4 months ago, when he ended up in his hospital, and presumably this was before Ralph picked up with Bunny. Alec and Sandy have been together for about 8 months at this point.

This admission seems to sail over Laurie's head in the doctor's office. But Alec is either admitting he slept with Ralph, or that he has told Ralph about all of his flings and Ralph has bothered to put this in his journal, which seems unlikely, though there has clearly been more than one fling (Alec says something about telling Sandy everything that could possibly come out).

But we already know that there isn't a telephone in Alec and Sandy's flat, so Alec cannot ring Ralph without leaving Sandy. We don't know whether Toto says something in front of Sandy about Ralph and Alec, or whether he even knows, but it doesn't seem that he does. In that case, why doesn't Alec go out and phone Ralph before he sits Sandy down and tells him everything? After all, Ralph is the one who has really been compromised by Bunny going to see Andrew.

I think Alec is a tiny bit afraid of Ralph, and we know he doesn't like 'fracas'. He didn't tell Ralph that Bunny had been reading his journal when Bim came out with 'the Odell', though he may have felt this was snitching and didn't want to rock the boat between Bunny and Ralph, but you get the impression that Alec doesn't want to set Ralph's temper off. He has already got one impending crisis with Sandy to deal with and doesn't want another with Ralph.

And he knows nothing about Andrew's letter, so probably thinks there is no immediate crisis as Bunny's visit to Andrew happened over a week ago.

2/ The following day Alec goes to the hospital late after little sleep and a night spent dealing with a hysterical Sandy, and is plunged into a medical emergency, followed by a busy day of bombing casualties. So he doesn't get a chance to ring Ralph, who may be unreachable on his course anyway.

He says he was going to tell Laurie this morning but was too busy. Yet you do feel that he has ducked the issue a little bit and could have found five minutes during the day to go to Laurie's ward.

3/ It is not until almost 6 o'clock that Alec goes to the ward to see Laurie. He must know, or have guessed, that Ralph and Laurie would be spending their evenings together. Does he know that the earliest Ralph can get there is 5 pm so they won't be there? Presumably not.

4/ Alec doesn't try to ring Ralph for another half an hour (about 6.30 pm) so he may have questioned the nurses about when Laurie went out and when he usually gets back, then gone back to work. He can't be leaving time for them to get back to Ralph's flat as they've had an hour and a half, unless he assumes they've gone for a drink.

It is only after Ralph takes the phone off the hook that Alec starts to worry. He rings the ward four times in the next hour and a half or so to ask if Laurie has returned. But why doesn't he try to ring Ralph again? You just get the impression he is ducking the issue somewhat, either that or Mary just hasn't plotted this very well. He presumably hasn't finished his shift or he could have gone round to Ralph's to check.

But why exactly does he start to worry? It can only be that he realises he has left it too late and Laurie has found out, and that is why he is chasing Laurie rather than Ralph. He isn't too worried about Ralph until he finally sees Laurie and realises the seriousness of the row and that they have broken up. He then starts worrying about Ralph refusing the phone call and shutting himself off.

Does Alec know about the row between Ralph and Laurie before he sees Laurie? No. Not until he talks to Laurie. He asks Laurie did you have a have a row about the orderly boy.

I have a visual image of the doors to the ward being at the top of the stairs, but I don't believe Laurie and Ralph's voices would have been raised enough to have been heard in the ward. In fact, I don't think Ralph raises his voice at all, and Laurie's would have come out like hissed steam, discretion and good manners being ingrained in him. Besides which it is obviously a busy staircase with a lot of coming and going which would have disguised their voices. The nurse may have noticed some tension when she passed, but that is probably about it. Why didn't Laurie wait until they were outside to have the conversation with Ralph?

I doubt Alec went outside to catch up with them, or questioned the porter at the gatehouse. He was too pre-occupied with other things.

Maybe if Alec had done less 'ducking-out' as he calls it, the whole situation could have been avoided.

[nevertwain]

Ralph and Bunny

Following a recent post by @skicio-zeezee, here are some thoughts.

“"Don't waste time, Spud. It's childish to start an argument about whether we love each other, the moment I go and sit on the other side of the room. Get down to brass tacks. What does all this rigmarole add up to, really? You met me at Sandy's party and you can't forget it. You surely don't still think I went there for the conversation, do you?"

He waited, as if expecting a reply; a disciplinary trick so old and simple that no doubt he was scarcely aware of using it.

"I went because I was on the town, like everyone else in the room. Yes, that includes Alec too, you don't know as much about Alec as you think. Surely Sandy told you it was a queer party before you went there; you knew what it meant?"

"Yes, of course."

"I don't just mean that queers would be there. A queer party: something between a lonely hearts club and an amateur brothel. You expected that, didn't you?"

Much of that evening had been a surprise to Laurie, but he didn't want to sound pious, so he said, "Yes."

"And are you going to tell me you'd have gone yourself if you'd been happy and satisfied, even if you did know I'd be there?"

"Yes," said Laurie, meeting his eyes because this was different. "I'd have gone to see you."

"Would you, Spud?" Ralph's face had softened; there was a kind of respect in it too. "After all those years. Yes; I expect you would."

He lit two cigarettes, gave Laurie one, and stood for a while looking down at him in silence.

"I'm not romantic," he began. From his lack of emphasis Laurie saw that he believed this to be true. "When I saw you lying on the deck in all the muck and dunnage, I don't know what I felt, really. You had a two-day beard, you were dirty, you smelt worse than the others because your wound was going bad. I suppose you stood to me for something or other. When you sent me up, I was almost too busy to think about it at the time; but it seemed to sink in later, when I was lying in hospital with nothing to do. So I wrote, because one can't swear to every impression one picks up on a day like that, and I wanted to settle it one way or another. When I heard you were dead, it seemed inevitable, somehow. And after that, so did everything else."

He had spoken in the intent, rather muddled way of a man who is defining his thoughts to himself as he goes along. He had done better for himself, it seemed, than he wanted; for when he saw Laurie's face his own hardened at once.

"Well, that's past history." He added with the clear colourless decision that told nothing, except that the subject was closed, "You can leave that out of it. None of that could happen again." Laurie remembered suddenly the contempt with which he had gazed down at Sandy on the bathroom floor.

"I wasn't thinking that."

"Well, seeing some of the things you do think..." As if it were unnatural for him to meet an emergency except on his feet, he took a quick turn across the room, came back to the hearth, and stood there, poised to move again, looking out across Laurie's head. Laurie could feel how the walls of the room were cramping his eyes. He looked at him, measuring his own resolve against Ralph's courage and his pride, and scarcely realising that there had been a subtle re-orientation. He was feeling now that if he weakened Ralph would respect him less.

“

This is about Bunny, and queerness.

The ‘I wasn’t thinking about that' needs to be taken in context about what has gone before.  Laurie has (in not so many words) told Ralph that he has chosen Andrew over him, and Ralph blames it on Sandy’s party and the sort of company he has been keeping.

The speech beginning ‘I’m not romantic’ is about Ralph saying when Laurie turned up on his ship he had a glimpse of what might have been.  What might have been is a higher, nobler, sort of queer relationship, rather than the sort found at Sandy’s party, a relationship with wider horizons than the ‘specialists’ Laurie believes them to be.  But it was taken away from him again, with the implication being that he didn’t deserve it.  “..it seemed inevitable, somehow. And after that, so did everything else” that is, losing his ship and hand, and ending up with someone like Bunny.  The implication is that now he is a ‘failed’ warrior, less than perfect, a cripple, he only deserves whatever he can get, whatever he can get at a party like Sandy’s.

The ‘He had done better for himself, it seemed, than he wanted; for when he saw Laurie's face his own hardened at once’ refers, I think, to him explaining himself rather than being a judgement on Bunny being better than expected.  However, whatever he sees in Laurie’s face – sympathy, compassion, adoration - makes him clam up.

The next bit, “Well, that’s past history..” is Ralph saying that Bunny and people like him, are over as far as he is concerned.  “It won’t happen again”: he won’t slip that far again as he has too much contempt for Sandy’s hysterical queerness that is petty and vindictive. Ralph was not thinking of Sandy, but Laurie sees the connection.

But Laurie’s “I wasn’t thinking that” is because Ralph interprets Laurie’s expression to mean that he thinks Ralph is upset about giving up Bunny, and misses him more than he cares to admit.  He may even think that Laurie blames himself for splitting up Ralph and Bunny, and then ditching him for Andrew.

So Ralph is effectively saying here that he is a man, he can take it, and will not collapse like Sandy, so if he wishes to, Laurie can walk away with a clear conscience.  Ralph is here, again, manipulating Laurie into adopting a posture that fits with his conception of what someone should do in this situation, what a man, not a wimp should act like.  This leads into the curious situation where they can have sex with respect whilst in the background knowing that it may only be temporary (but that is a different subject).

[nevertwain]

Sorry, but this is Ralph Lanyon aka Prince Philip.

[nevertwain]

Ralph the bailer

Recently it occurred to me that when things get too much for Ralph, too intense, he absents himself and steps out of the picture to regroup. It usually involves a telephone call, and each step away seems to be done with an increased sense of panic and distress as if he can no longer cope.

He does it at least three times in the novel. The first time is at the party where, after Alec's birthday cake, someone cattily asks Ralph where Bunny is. Laurie thus finds out, rather unpleasantly, that Ralph has a boyfriend and Ralph angrily tells the other person to mind their own business. It is directly after this that Ralph excuses himself to make a phone call before he leaves to take Laurie home.

It has been speculated that Ralph goes out to make a call to Bunny to tell him he is leaving the party. I don't think this is right as, he says later in the novel, in going to the party he was on the town. He is therefore hardly likely to ring Bunny to tell him that he is taking someone else home, and judging by their conversation when we do finally meet Bunny, their relationship was already on the rocks, so he is not likely to want to share with Bunny that he has just met his boyhood crush. It seems more likely that he has just stepped out of the room to calm down after his burst of temper, and to digest the fact of having met Laurie again after thinking him dead.

Meeting Laurie seriously rattled him, enough to cause a physical reaction, and having to deal with this amidst a group of people he despises proves too much and he needs a few moments to settle himself. He is, after all, a self-disciplined neurotic, by which Renault may mean that he is a highly emotional person who tries to keep his emotions in a straitjacket so that they do not get the better of him. And Laurie obviously evokes a strong emotional response in him.

There is perhaps another example of Ralph stepping away when he again leaves Laurie at the party to take Bim home, but this seems more like a plot device to set up the cosy chat between Laurie and Alec (also on the town), and the subsequent Sandy episode.

The second time Ralph steps away to make a (fictitious) phone call is in a much more emotionally charged scene after he tells Laurie he has arranged his transfer to the city hospital, and he finds out about Andrew, and how deeply Laurie cares for him. He abruptly tells Laurie that he has to phone the station and rushes out, forgetting his overcoat. It is possible he goes to ring Alec to ask if it is too late to rescind the transfer, but this telephone call is never mentioned, and seems unlikely. Ralph isn't thinking clearly at this moment (and no, the last thing he would need would be a stimulant like benzedrine). He has had to literally run away because he is feeling overwhelmed.

The third, and final, stepping away, is of course, suicide. And this too revolves around a fictitious telephone call, with Laurie finally admitting to himself (though Ralph doesn't know) that the phone calls are fabrications to keep Ralph's self-respect intact.

[nevertwain]

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[nevertwain]

A Babylonian Experiment

The great Macedonian army had arrived at the city fifteen days ago and once the fear of destruction and looting had worn off, it had been a busy time.  The merchants’ warehouses had been emptied to supply the army so there had been plenty of work loading carts to send out to the Macedonian camp.  After days of heavy work, Buru had declared himself a holiday today.  He had a purse of money and an aching back, so he bought a flask of wine, some bread and dates, and repaired to his favourite spot, a sunny corner of the market where he could watch the world go by and laugh at the fools rushing about like ants.

Yet when he got there, someone was already occupying his spot on the plinth beneath a statue of the god Marduk.  A young man was lying back on his elbow between the feet of the god, surveying the morning activity in the market like he owned the place.

Buru was so befuddled by this unusual occurrence that he just stood at the foot of the steps and stared at the young man, his wine and food in his hands.  Sometimes there were boys messing about on the plinth and he could chase them off, but he felt too old to tangle with a young man.  And this looked like one of the Greeks or Macedonians, so he especially didn’t want to tangle with one of those young cockerels.

But he stood there staring like a fool for so long that the young man noticed him.  “Good morning, friend,” he called down.  “Have I taken your spot?  There is room enough here for both of us if you don’t mind sharing.”

Buru stared dumbly back at him.  He had spoken in Greek but there were plenty of Greek merchants in the city, and Buru had once worked as a groom for the Greek cavalry who were in the pay of the Persian governor of the city, so he knew enough Greek.  He’d had a Greek woman as a wife too for a while, but she was long gone, along with the job because he’d been too lazy to do it properly.  No, the Greek wasn’t his problem.  The problem was that he had a purse of money around his neck and this young buck could easily rob him of his wages from the past few days, especially if he fell asleep, as he was liable to do.

“I am harmless, I swear,” the young man called, sitting up showing his empty hands.  “Do you speak Greek?  I am getting hungry and was just going to that stall over there to get some soup.”  He had jumped down from the plinth and came down the steps.

“I have wine and bread,” Buru said, indicating them.

“Wonderful,” the young man said.  “We have the makings of a feast.  I’ll go get the soup, then you can tell me all about your wonderful city.”

He was full of quick energy with big brown eyes, and his thick, long light brown hair bounced with every move and caught the sun in the gold highlights.  He wore a stiff linen corselet with a sword slung by a cord across his chest, and he also appeared to have taken a tumble in the mud and dust recently for both he and his clothes were none too clean.  Along with the two day stubble, he looked a bit wild and disreputable.

Buru knew he wouldn’t stand a chance against him and his youth if he decided to rob him, but thought he might as well have a good breakfast and, spreading his cloak on the pedestal, settled himself against the one of the feet of the god as the young soldier went across to the market stall.

He returned with a handful of greasy chicken drumsticks and two beakers of thick chicken and vegetable soup.  Buru split his loaf in half and handed one to him in exchange for the soup and they fell to eating.  When they had finished they sat back, sharing Buru’s wine and dates.

The soldier introduced himself as Philip and asked how the Babylonians liked their new masters, and what he thought of the Macedonians.  There was a mischievous glint in his eye, but Buru knew enough to be canny without appearing to see it.

“Oh, they’re boisterous,” Buru said, “and good for trade.  But they’ll be just the same as the Persians: all the money will go to the rich and then leave the city.  We won’t benefit from it, and nothing will change.  The irrigation systems will be neglected, the ships will bring goods in and then just take it away again, and the Babylonians will have no control over their own wealth.”

The young man seemed about to protest but checked himself.  “But what about Mazaeus? Was he a good governor?”

“Oh, he tried, but he had no real control.  Every penny had to go to Susa and Persepolis.”

“So the city is poor?”

“Poorer than it needs to be.  The taxes are unfair, and none of the money gets fed back into the city.”

“And the temples?”

“They are the worst of the lot.  They just sit on the money and hoard it, and lend out small amounts at exorbitant rates.  They don’t even repair the temples.”

The young soldier sat back chewing a date thoughtfully. Buru was beginning to get sleepy so to keep himself awake he sat up with his arms around his knees and surveyed the marketplace.  There was a stir in the far corner and he craned to see what was happening.  He heard the tread of feet first and saw the glint of spearheads.

“Hey,” he said, glancing at his companion.  “Here are some of your mates.”

He didn’t reply or look up, his expression closed.

“Are they looking for you?” Buru asked, curious.

“Why should they be?”  He looked up with a challenge in his eyes, then looked down again as the soldiers came into view.  He was arranging the bones of the drumsticks in a pattern on the plinth.

Buru looked at the squad of thirty soldiers marching into view, helmets, spears and shields glittering and scarlet cloaks swirling, an unstoppable force in perfect unison.  A fine-looking young man marched at their head like a high-blooded stallion, the crest on his helmet nodding with each step.

“Wow,” Buru said, watching as they marched out of the market and down the side street, seriously impressed at the display.  “Who were they?”

“That’s Hephaestion and the Bodyguard,” the soldier answered flatly, still lying back on his elbow and watching the drumstick he was twirling between his fingers.

“Are you one of them?  Is he your commander?”

The soldier thought for an instant.  “Sort of.”

“Did he see you?  He didn’t look this way.”

“Oh, he saw me.”

As if in response to his words, the young officer appeared alone around the corner of the street the squad had marched down.  He stood at the foot of the steps and looked up at the young soldier on the plinth. 

“There you are,” he said mildly.  Buru sat and stared at him, mesmerised by the rarity of him.  He was every bit as fine and handsome as he had appeared when he marched past, like something from another, polished world.

“Here I am,” said the young man who called himself Philip, a trace of irritation in his voice.  Suddenly he looked up and gave the officer a cheeky smile.

He didn’t smile back, but Buru saw his face and eyes soften.  He walked nearer to Philip up the steps and Buru could not work out who was senior in rank.

“You’re filthy dirty,” the officer said to the soldier, his tone still mild.

“I know.  I got in a bit of an argument with one of the grooms and ended up having a wrestling match with him.”  He smiled up at the other young man.

“Did he win?”

“Of course not.  I cheated.”  He sat up and jumped off the plinth with one of those quick movements that seemed typical of the man.  “Friend Buru,” he said, turning to him.  “Thank you for a most excellent breakfast and company.  I look forward to doing it again someday, but now I have to go and do some work.”

“You’re welcome, friend.”

Buru watched as he went quickly down the steps and walked around the corner.  The officer didn’t follow, looking at Buru.  “What did he say?” he asked.

Buru didn’t answer for a moment, mesmerised at how handsome the young officer was close up.  He was freshly shaven, sparkling with spit and polish, good living and confidence.  Buru felt like someone’s flea in comparison.

“Um, he just wanted to know what the city was like for the Macedonians.”

“And?”

“It needs to be more prosperous.  And freer.  With a good satrap like Mazaeus with a free hand to govern properly.  For the people.”

“Right.”

At that moment the soldier calling himself Philip came back around the corner of the building.  “Are you coming, or what?” he called up to the officer Hephaestion.

Hephaestion moved with alacrity to follow him, then turned back to dig his hand into his pouch and drop a handful of silver coins into Buru’s cupped hands.

Wide-eyed, Buru looked up at him.  “Is that who I think it is?”

“Probably.”  He smiled and hurried off down the steps to join Alexander and they walked off together round the corner of the building.

Buru looked down at the coins in amazement, hoping there was a gold piece in there, but there wasn’t.  It didn’t matter though as gold coin would be more difficult to change into coppers.  But even so, he probably had enough money here to buy a donkey.  He could start his own porterage business, or may take some merchant’s wife home with her purchases.

As he dreamt of an affluent future, he realised he could at least dine out tonight at someone else’s, or several someone elses’, expense when they heard the story he had to offer.  He had met the King.