I wrote several chapters of The Custodian of Marvels that never made it into the book. Two of them were set in Kent, where Elizabeth, Fabulo, Jeremiah and Lara set out to explore the cellars of a winery. (The winery cellars were laid out according to the same plan as the cellars of the International Patent Court in London.)

Here below is an extract from one of those lost (and unedited) chapters:


Custodian of Marvels, Chapter X

We could not imitate the wealth of the London dandies. Far easier to pretend to be trying to hide our money. Thus it was that Jeremiah came to be riding a private coach South from Dover on the Folkestone Road, dressed in a pale grey suit of modest price, but with fine Italian shoes on his feet – hired for the occasion. The cufflinks, mostly hidden under the sleeves of his jacket, were the touch of which I was most proud. Each appeared to be adorned with a sapphire the size of an acorn, though in truth they were paste.

Anyone searching for clues would see a man failing to perfectly conceal his extraordinary wealth. And they would look. We had made him up to seem 10 years older. Whilst Lara clung to one of his arms and I clung to the other. I had borrowed one of Ellie’s dresses for the purpose and felt myself unreasonably exposed.

The coach came to rest at the front entrance. The driver had clearly been taken in by our display because he was double-quick to open the door and place the steps. He even bowed as Jeremiah emerged and received his tip with ill concealed delight.

We had argued long and hard on that question. To give away money we could ill afford seemed wrong to the others. But I could think of no better way of spreading the news of Jeremiah’s supposed wealth. Within minutes the stable hands would know. Then the stablemaster and other servants too. Such valuable intelligence would quickly reach the owners of the vineyard.

At the doorway to the tasting rooms we were met by a young man of the staff, who gave Lara and I more than a passing glance. And then, once inside and seated, a matron dressed in a considerable quantity of turquoise silk came to enquire of our journey.

“Very pleasant,” Jeremiah said...

The complete article can be found here:
https://www.facebook.com/gaslitempire...