Setting Up Chapter 16

Days went by and Miriam was absolutely exhausted every night before going to bed.

Samantha was doing quite well with her handling her all the time without a fuss. Most of the time at least.

She would dig in the garden about once a week to look for earth worms while planting herbs and medicinal plants.

She didn't get to take care of her plants often anymore because her father had given her double the amount of lessons any of her sisters had.

Not knowing wether to be grateful or not, since it reminded her of the old life she used to live. Studying all the time.

At least she knew how to read and write like an adult so she practically breezed through those lessons. Holding herself back abit, of course.

It was now fall harvest time and Miriam still didnt get any canaries.

Fed up with waiting she decided to ask her governess Anya if it would be possible to go to the nearby town.

Danville was the closest big town to their plantation. If she had learned correctly, they were a big tobacco town.

Not caring for tobacco, she only wanted some sheets of music of her favorite composers.

So far she had only been 'taught' easy songs. She was tired of that. Ah how she yearned to play La Campanella! Chopin! And some of Stephen Foster's American classics.

About to ask her governess if they could go to town, she was interupted by her father walking into the room.

Mr.Stuart entered the room. Adorned in a dark black suit. Looking around the room for a minute, he spotted Miriam within seconds.

Looking up at her father making a beeline for her, Miriams soft smile that always sat upon her face disappeared as if played in slow motion.

This father never came to her to just visit or talk, he would always ask her about certian current events or investment projects.

She had accidentally blabbed a month or so ago about why a certian chemical would prove to be detrimental and the manufacturing of said chemical should not be an investment of their family. After explaining the reasons why vaguely, her father still went through with the investment and lost big time.

He came practically fuming back to her after the failed business venture and demanded to know why she knew it would fail and she decided to blame it on angels.

Yes, she said angels told her.

After a few more peculiar instances like this one, her father finally came around to her supposedly getting some 'current events' gossip from a divine being.

If she could use the Bessemer process to create massive amount of shovels and gold pans she could sell them for a fortune to miners.

But how to get enough metal to and how to keep the method a secret...

Could she use some slaves to make it? It's vile to do that though. It may be the best option available to her though.

A means of income was needed. The civil war was fast approaching. Money would get her far away from here. Afterall, its common knowledge the South lost. Being that she did not want to steal the original creators thunder, or potentially help to finance the south in the upcoming war, it must be kept from her father at all costs.

Of course she could try and marry a rich man from Europe, but she wasn't quite sure how high a family she could marry into. Genevieve, her mother in this lifetime, had married into a wealthy American family, and look at how splendid that worked out in the end.

Supposedly Genevieve was the only legitimate daugther of a Baron in Germany. But her father had married a widower after his first wife died and she bore him no new children.

Genieives Step Brother took the title somehow.

Hmmmm...

Maybe she should try and get into contact with some of the anti slavery figure heads so she could start amassing wealth and helping people who won't favor the south in the upcoming war.

Yes, that was surely her best bet.

Thus, Miriam began to secretly send out mail to a few prominent individuals regarding near future events that ultimately came true.

There was never a return address labeled on her letters so these men could never figure out who was sending them info, or why.

That was until they all recieved a letter regarding the manufacturing of a certian item and specific schemeatics, and reasons of why manufacturing of these items would be important in the near future. Enclosed in each envelope was a measly amount of startup money for each said venture. Her terms were wanting 50% of profits.

In the letter Miriam always signed off as Madam Tilly.

Miriam needed to find a person, or a few, to go liason with these personages.

Deciding it was time to find some capable lackies, Miriam demanded her father take her to New York, New York.

Perplexed, Stephen asked why his daughter wanted to go to New York.

"I want to go to New York because I need more servants, and I want to spend some of my money on pretty things. Do you not have any business to conduct in that area?" Miriam said while lightly rolling her eyes at her father.

Mr.Stuart indeed needed to go to New York to negotiate some business dealings with his plantation. He also had quite a few mistresses and admirers there, along with a few children.

"Oh and I guess we can bring Bannon, Beatrice, and his mother Fiona." Said Miriam.

Mr. Stuart looked at his daughter in shock, did she know Bannon was her brother? Or did she perhaps have a crush on him? Ah he better make it clear that she can't like any man. He, as her father, would be the one to decide who she was sold off to- ahem, betrothed too.

Anya was pretty sure the young little girl in her care was a demon, or a Saint. She hadn't made up her mind yet. The housekeeper had visited her this morning and personally told her that she must pack her belongings and go to New York with the Master of the plantation and the child in her charge, Miriam. Along with some other servants.

Anya was shocked, she could go to New York?! Having heard of many prominent men in that city, she was sure she could catch some man's eyes and be whisked away into a blissful life of marriage.

Poor Anya, she was merely being brought along by Miriam to show she was 'diligant" in her studies.