Extract: Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman

This entry was posted on 28 January 2022.

A pure pleasure of a novel set in Georgian London, where the discovery of a mysterious ancient Greek vase sets in motion conspiracies, revelations and romance. Perfect for readers who loved The Binding and The Essex Serpent.

 


 

Samson, The Scilly Isles

December 1798

 

“He had not allowed for the weight. The cold he anticipated, the water’s

sluggish buoyancy, this too he considered. The darkness? The lantern

does well enough, and his memory allows for shortfalls in sight. But

the weight . . . this is something else altogether.

The lantern itself is manageable. It is bound to his wrist with thick

twine, affording movement in both hands, but it pulls down uncomfortably

on his arm and the salt water stings where the twine has

already rubbed the skin. The ropes looped under each armpit – one

for the salvage, one to raise him again – are cumbersome, but they

help balance his body as he descends. The sinking weights, too,

although bulky, can be endured.

The problem is the harness. Strong tin plate. Domed and airy

around his head, further down it constricts his torso like an unforgiving

corset. On deck it did not feel so heavy. Below the surface,

however, the restrictive leather suit, the iron hoop skeleton that

pinches meanly, together with the pressure of water and the winter

currents . . . He will demand more money once the job is done.

Luck has been with him so far this night. The sky’s inky cradle is

starred, the moon full and fat. During the storm he took careful note

of his surroundings – the ship finally succumbed on the shoals of two

small islands separated by an isthmus, their inlands pitted with stone

ruins. In the moonlight these ruins shone white, a beacon for their

small sailboat, and despite the December squalls the ship’s starboard

beam end is still visible above the waves. No, the wreck was not difficult

to find.

So why is it he feels he has been led here?

Thankfully the ship rests in the shallows. He has not used this

apparatus before and will not venture any deeper than he must. Twenty

feet below the surface. No danger there, he tells himself. And he

knows exactly where to look. Under careful instruction the object he

seeks was safely hidden within the starboard bow, away from the

other shipments tightly packed in the hold, but the ship broke apart

in the storm; he hopes his luck stays true, that the crate has not

strayed too far along the seabed, that no one else has managed to

retrieve it.

The icy water needles his legs and arms. Cocooned in the heavy

suit he descends further, breathing with effort, tasting the sharp taint

of metal. The air pipes leading from the harness to the surface are

long, and he imagines them stretching behind him like a hangman’s

rope. He holds the lantern in front of his body, looks through the eyeglass

of the harness dome, relieved to see the shadow of the ship’s

ribs. Down he goes, then, searching, squinting into the murk. He

thinks he hears a sound below him, something low and plaintive. He

tilts his head, feels his ears pop, continues on.

His feet land. Beneath them, shifting grit. He angles his head and

tries to look down. But carefully. Too sudden a movement, he was

warned, and the water will seep through the harness. Slowly, yes,

slowly. There. The corner of something. Using the ball of his foot he

pushes himself off, back into the current. Then he sinks again, making

contact with the seabed, raising the lantern to eye level. Six feet

or so from the ship’s remains he just makes out the dark corners of a

crate. The blood pulses loudly in his ears. This is it, he is sure. He

edges slowly forward, puts one leg in front of him, then another, his

feet dragging through the water. He jumps as something brushes

against his shins, and lowering the lantern he watches seaweed dance

around his calves.

The crate balances precariously on a large rock. He inches closer,

raises the lantern again. The X he painted on its side when the ship

left Palermo is clear, even in this deep aquatic dark. For a moment he

marvels at how easy all this has been but then the lantern flickers and

dips before flaring once again, and he knows that now is not the time

to dawdle.

 


“He hears the muffled groan of wood, the sluggish surge of stirring water and, so quietly he believes he has imagined it, the soft, haunting, almost-whisper of a woman, sighing.”


 

Releasing the twine from his wrist, he places the lantern between

two hunks of wreckage so it will not turn up in the current, then

unhooks one of the ropes from his arms and begins the painstaking

task of securing the crate. He must be careful – there is no room for

error – and the rock is a blessing it seems, for without it he would

have struggled to lift the crate from the seabed at all. As he works

small fish dash and dart about him. At one point he stops, strains to

hear within the tin plates of the harness. Is that singing? No, it is the

water sickness, it must be. Was he not told that staying under too long

can be deadly?

But so soon?

He works fast now, as fast as he is able with the harness weighing

him down. He wraps the rope around the crate four times and though

his fingers are stiff with cold, he ties knots so tight the rope will need

cutting free. When he is satisfied he pulls sharply on it – once, twice

– signalling to the surface. The length jumps, slackens, becomes taut.

Then, triumphant, he watches the crate ascend in a cloud of billowing

sand. He hears the muffled groan of wood, the sluggish surge of stirring

water and, so quietly he believes he has imagined it, the soft,

haunting, almost-whisper of a woman, sighing.

 


 

London

January 1799

 

PART I.

The mind is its own place, and in itself

Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.

John Milton

Paradise Lost (1667)

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

Dora Blake has been hunched over her desk since dawn. The stool

she sits on is too tall but she has become accustomed to its awkward

height. Every now and then she lays down her pliers, removes her

spectacles and pinches the bridge of her nose. Often she kneads the

knots in her neck, stretches her back until she feels the pleasant

crack of spine.

The attic room is north-facing and offers little light. In frustration

Dora has moved her desk and stool beneath the small window for

this is intricate work, and her lone candle is not fit for purpose. She

shifts uncomfortably on the hard seat, replaces her spectacles and

applies herself once more, doing her best to ignore the cold. The window

is open at its widest, despite the New Year chill. Any moment she

expects Hermes to return with a new treasure, something to crown

this latest creation of hers, and she has opened his cage door in readiness,

the remains of her stolen breakfast scattered beneath the perch

to reward what she hopes will be a fruitful morning’s hunt.

She sucks her bottom lip between her teeth, angles the pliers

against her thumb.

To replicate cannetille was ambitious of her but Dora is, if anything,

an optimist. Some might call this optimism mere wilfulness,

but she feels her ambition is justified. She knows – knows – she has
a talent. She is positively convinced it will be recognised one day, that

her designs will be worn all across the city. Perhaps, Dora muses, the

corner of her mouth twitching as she eases a particularly tiny wire

into place, across Europe. But then she shakes her head, tries to

pluck her lofty dreams from the woodwormed beams above her and

concentrate. It will not do to be distracted and ruin hours of work at

the last hurdle.

Dora cuts another piece of wire from the roll hooked over a nail on

the wall.

The beauty of cannetille is that it imitates fine lace. She has seen

parure sets on display in Rundell & Bridge and marvelled at their

intricate designs; a necklace, earrings, bracelet, brooch and tiara

would have been the work of months. Briefly Dora had contemplated

creating the matching pair of earrings from her sketch, but grudgingly

admitted her time was better spent elsewhere. This necklace is only

an example after all, a means to demonstrate her skill.

 


“It is aquamarine that Dora likes best. It reminds her of Mediterranean skies, the warmth of childhood.”


 

‘There!’ she exclaims, snipping the excess wire with a pair of fine-

handled clippers. The clasp has been bothering her all morning for it

proved damnably fiddly but now it is done, worth the dark early start,

the strain of back, the numbness of buttock. She lays down the cutters,

blows into her hands and rubs them hard together, just as a flurry

of black and white descends from the rooftops with a furtive caw.

Dora sits back and smiles.

‘Good morning, my heart.’

The magpie sails through the window, lands softly on the bed.

Around the bird’s neck swings the small leather pouch she has sewn

for him. Hermes’ neck is bowed – there is weight to it.

He has found something.

‘Come then,’ Dora says, closing the window tight against the winter

chill. ‘Show me what you’ve scurried up.’

Hermes chirps, dips his head. The pouch strap slackens and the

bird patters back, shaking his beak free. The pouch sags and Dora

reaches for it, excitedly tips the contents on the worn coverlet.

A broken piece of earthenware, a metal bead, a steel pin. She can

use all of these for something or other; Hermes never disappoints. But

her attention is drawn to another item on the bed. She picks it up,

raises it to the light.

Ach nai,’ Dora breathes. ‘Yes, Hermes. It is perfect.’

Between her fingers she holds a flat oval pebble, made of glass, the

size of a small egg. Against the grey of the city’s skyline it shines a

pale, almost milky blue. In cannetille designs amethysts are the preferred

stone; the rich purple hue glints brightly against the gold,

enhancing the intensity of the yellow. But it is aquamarine that Dora

likes best. It reminds her of Mediterranean skies, the warmth of childhood.

This smooth piece of glass will do just nicely. She closes her

hand around it, feels its soft surface cool against her palm. She gestures

to the magpie. With a blink of his black eye he hops onto her fist.

‘I think that deserves a nice breakfast, don’t you?’

Dora guides him into his cage. His beak scrapes against the

wooden base as he scrabbles at the crusts of bread she left for him

earlier. Gently she strokes his silken feathers, admires their rainbow

sheen.

‘There, my treasure,’ she croons. ‘You must be tired. Is that not

better?’

Engrossed now in his meal Hermes ignores her, and Dora returns

to her desk. She looks down at the necklace, contemplates her

handiwork.

She is, she must confess, not entirely satisfied. Her design, so

beautifully imagined on paper, is a poor show realised. What should

be tendrils of coiled gold is merely dull grey wire twisted into miniature

loops. What would have been shining seed pearls are instead

roughly hewn shards of broken porcelain.

But Dora never expected it to match her drawing. She lacks the

right tools and materials, the correct training. It is, however, a start;

proof that there is beauty to her work, for despite the crude materials

there is an elegance to the shapes she has wrought. No, Dora is not

satisfied, but she is pleased. She hopes it will do. Surely with this

pebble as a centrepiece . . .

There is a bang, the jangle of a distant bell.

‘Dora!’

The voice that calls up from three storeys below is hard, sharp,

impatient. Hermes chirps irritably in his cage.

‘Dora,’ the voice barks again. ‘Come down and manage the shop.

I’ve urgent business at the dock.’

The statement is followed by the dull thud of a door closing,

another one, far off. Then, silence.

Dora sighs, covers the necklace with a piece of linen, places her

spectacles down alongside it. She will have to add the glass pebble

later, when her uncle has retired to bed. With regret Dora props it

against the candlestick where it wobbles briefly before falling still.

 

Extracted from Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman, out now.

 

 

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