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  • A.C. Gunter’s Baron Montez: 20. Domingo of Porto Bello

    In a gradual increase in intensity over the past chapters two relics have been revealed. First the tintype image of Alice Ripley, then the contents of the powder canister: a string of pearls and a note inscribed in blood on a cuff. These have only reinforced Louise’s belief, first raised by Harry, that Montez is Read more

  • A.C. Gunter’s Baron Montez: 19. Whispers of the Dying

    On a tour of Silas Winterburn’s museum, Louise set her eyes on a powder canister embedded in a tree branch (Ch. 15). At the time it seemed rather odd Silas had not opened it, sufficiently so for Louise to question his lack of curiosity. Yet he puts off opening it immediately, in order to continue Read more

  • A.C. Gunter’s Baron Montez: 18. Bébé’s Little Present

    It’s hard not to appreciate Fernando, our polyhaemic ex-mule boy, pearl salesman, opportunistic thief, kidnapper and killer, assumed Baron, self-taught financier. He is literate in at least two languages, no doubt through his own efforts. A man of the world, or as Gunter fancies him, a monstrous cannibalistic beetle, Montez is not one to rest Read more

  • A.C. Gunter’s Baron Montez: 17. Vadalia Cardinalis

    Vadalia Cardinalis is an insect now known as Rodolia Cardinalis due to an etymological reclassification, though its common name remains the same. It is a name that most know from a childhood rhyme, but Gunter keeps this his little secret, for revealing it would seriously damage the analogy he uses later in the chapter for Read more

  • A.C. Gunter’s Baron Montez: 16. The Duplicate Tintype

    Settling into life in ‘Little Paris’, Louise is about to embark on another journey: one of discovery. Whereas Harry will struggle to gain any ground through his dedicated efforts, evidence of Montez’s treachery will almost fall into her lap. Readers will remember, in Chapter Three, George Ripley proudly showing Fernando Montez a tintype image of Read more