Cast in Time Book 2: Baron of the Middle Counties
Ed & Carol Nelson
Cast in Time
Book 2: Baron of the Middle Counties
By Ed Nelson
Other books by Ed Nelson
The Richard Jackson Saga
Book 1: The Beginning
Book 2: Schooldays
Book 3: Hollywood
Book 4: In the Movies
Book 5: Star to Deckhand
Book 6: Surfing Dude
Book 7: Third Time is a Charm
Book 8: Oxford University
Book 9: Cold War
Book 10: Taking Care of Business
Book 11: Interesting Times
Book 12: Escape from Siberia
Book 13: Regicide
Book 14: What’s Under, Down Under?
Book 15: The Lunar Kingdom
Book 16: First Steps
Stand Alone Stories
Ever and Always
Mary, Mary
The Cast in Time series
Book 1: Baron
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my wife, Carol, for her support and help as my first reader and editor.
With special thanks to Ole Rotorhead for his technical insights on how things really work.
Then there are my beta readers: Ole Rotorhead, Lonelydad, Antti Huotari, and Pat O'Dell.
And never forget the professional editor: Morgan Waddle.
Quotation
According to 'M' theory, ours is not the only universe. Instead, 'M' theory predicts that a great many universes were created out of nothing.
Stephen Hawking
Copyright © 2023
E. E. Nelson
All rights reserved
Eastern Shore Publishing
2331 West Del Webb Blvd.
Sun City Center, FL 33673
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-953395-84-9
Map of Cast in Time Cornwall
Contents
Cast in Time
Other books by Ed Nelson
Dedication
Quotation
Copyright © 2023
Map of Cast in Time Cornwall
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Back Matter
Chapter 1
Now that I had conquered Pirthtowan and Wadebridge, I had to integrate them into my Barony. I hadn't wanted to go to war with them, but they tried to assassinate me, so I had no choice.
Their failed attempt resulted in the death of the Dowager Countess Wendon and her son, the only heir to the Barony. I had grown fond of them and had a good relationship with her father, John Chandler.
John, a ships Chandler in Saltash, was also a friend, and business partner. I couldn't leave their deaths unanswered. There was also the fact that once they had tried and failed, they had no choice but to continue.
But they only had to get lucky once. I had to win successfully against every attempt. So I set out with my war party the next morning.
I would like to report that we won a series of hard-fought battles. The fact of the matter was we rolled them up easily. My introduction of a stronger crossbow was the deciding factor.
Thad, my assistant scribe, attended to me as usual. He had accompanied me enough to know what was needed.
It would take weeks to give the locals an understanding of the changes that would be made. Followed by months of work to implement the changes.
The first step was to send the headmen of Pirthtowan and Wadebridge to Own-nap to see for themselves what we had accomplished. They would be our best salesmen.
Food was already on its way. It may have been hubris, but I was so certain of victory that I had a food train formed and set out before the battles occurred. Once there were full bellies, people would be prone to listen.
Then our head medical person Agnes would arrive with her contingent of nurses. They would start educating the local midwives. They would be our staunchest supporters once they saw how infant death rates could be reduced.
As these events were transpiring, I spent some time thinking about how all this got started. I was born over a thousand years in the future as James Fletcher. I lived a good life.
Most of it was spent in the military, where I fought in World War II, Korea, and Viet Nam. I was a combat engineer who forgot to duck occasionally and made things happen under fire.
These actions lead to awards and promotions. In between these wars, I continued the engineering studies I had started at West Point. With an eidetic memory, able to retain huge amounts of information. I retired as a Lieutenant General in command of the US Army Corp of Engineers.
During this time, I met, and married the love of my life Dory. She was my helpmate, lover, and confidant for many years. After retiring, I became a professional student. Taking every engineering degree possible. Dory said it kept me off the streets.
I died after living for more than ninety years. That should have been the end. However, as I was fading out, my last thought was, "What a waste of such wonderful knowledge."
Someone must have been listening because I woke up in the body of a young Baron named Owen-nap. The year was the eighth century, and from what I could tell not the same continuum that I came from.
Many things were the same and many different. Why I was here, I had no idea, but I promptly put my engineering knowledge to work to improve the lives of my people.
I had just realized that I needed more people to make progress. Not total body count, but specific trades.
I would need to go to London sometime in the future to recruit them. Number one on my list was an alchemist. They wouldn't know chemistry, but I could remedy that. Their understanding that chemical reactions could change things was a plus.
A master glassmaker was an absolute must. Most important was someone who could lead the effort to measure to the nearest one-thousandth of an inch.
Those were the hard sciences. I also needed someone who knew the geographical world as it exists here. I had seen enough to know that the textbooks I had memorized didn't completely match up with this world.
Then there was a person who knew the nations and politics of this new world, at least new to me.
I also needed a master trader to handle foreign ventures. They would need military support. My list kept growing.
A monk broke me out of my reverie, asking if they could use the Keep as a census headquarters. There was no reason why not, so I gave my permission.
But it brought up the question of who I would leave in charge of Pirthtowan and Wadebridge. I was running short of experienced people. I decided to put off that worry until tomorrow. Lady Eleanor would be joining me, and she might have some insight.
At least I wouldn't have to change the title of the Barony again. The Barony of the Middle Counties still worked. Of course, the flag would have to be redesigned.
Then there was the new, to me, surrounding Baronies. Adjacent to Pirthtowan were Lewanniet and Bolventor. Next to Wadebridge were Gaberton and Pensilva.
All these were on the maps I remembered from the future, but none were in the same place. Adding to the evidence that I was in a different timeline or universe.
These differences weren't of much import now but would become critical when I sent out expeditions to bring back raw materials and riches.
In the meantime, I would expand our spy network into these counties. I still hadn't filled the position of spymaster to run a network. It was imperative that this was done soon.
The management team I was building was doing well, but they couldn't do it all. Several of them were good in their current positions, but the expanded Barony might be beyond them.
I would discuss each person with Eleanor and get her opinion.
My Lady arrived midmorning the next day. She looked exhausted but was almost manic in her excitement. She had never been involved in a war before. War was a strong word for this small-scale battle, but it had changed my Barony and the surrounding countryside.
If war was diplomacy by other means, we had a war.
The Baroness's own accompanied her. I had given up thinking they worked for me. My messenger girl, Linda, came with her. That would be handy. Since it was new territory and we didn't know the inhabitants, I asked Eleanor if one of her guards could accompany her on her missions.
With Thad at my side to take notes and prepare messages and Linda to deliver them, I was all set to go. The question was where to go. Acting too fast would create more problems than solutions. After stabilizing the food and health situation, I should have a complete survey of the area completed before any major changes.
Even hyper Eleanor agreed this was the best course of action. John Steward suggested we assign five guards under a Sergeant to maintain peace in each Barony while we sorted things out. I told him to take care of it.
Rather than dragging Eleanor back on the road, we spent the day in the Wadebridge Keep interviewing the staff. It didn't take long to figure out the Keep's Steward was hated by all. He abused his position. He had disappeared in the fighting and was probably still running for his life. The young serving girls wanted him hunted down.
We didn't waste time on him, other than issuing a death warrant if captured. Two girls were seen with knives from the kitchen, checking out hiding spots in the village.
A search of his rooms turned up over three hundred silver coins. I directed ten silver each be distributed to the nine servants. The rest was to go to our treasury.
So far, we have had enough silvers to fund all the ongoing projects, but this state of affairs wouldn't last. A trip to Saltash to speak to John Chandler about establishing more trade with London was in order.
Eleanor and I, with our entourage, returned to Owen-nap. We arrived in the afternoon and received updates on how our orders were being implemented. The next morning, our group headed to Wendon.
Neither Eleanor nor I had been to Wendon since the deaths of the Dowager Baroness and her son. Sergeant Smith was still in charge. He and the Dowager had seemed to be getting very close, so I was concerned about how he was handling things.
’The changes were very apparent. What had been a forlorn-looking village was now a vibrant operation. Healthy-looking people were going about their daily business. Cheers went up as Eleanor and I were spotted.
We waved as we passed by them but didn't stop. Several Monks and a scout peeled off from our group to talk to those present. They would find out the true mood of the people and any concerns they might have.
It may be cynical, but what I hear in public may not be what is said in private.
Sergeant Smith and the Keep's Steward welcomed us as we arrived at the Keep.
The Sergeant looked like he hadn't been sleeping well.
When Eleanor and I were in a private room with him, I asked how he was bearing up.
"It has been hard, My Lord. I didn't realize how much I cared for her and her son. I have lost many close friends in battle over the years, so I know time will heal."
"It's never easy. Do you want to remain in charge here or go elsewhere?"
"I would like to remain here. Lydia, young William, and I spent many an hour talking about how using your methods could improve Wendon. I would like to continue those efforts in their memory."
"So be it. You will remain in command here. With no heirs, I'm now going to incorporate Wendon into the Barony of the Middle Counties."
"I thought as much. You have no choice now."
"Eleanor was talking on the trip over about the command structure here. Leaving a mere Sergeant in charge won't do. I'm Knighting you."
At that, I reached over and lightly tapped his shoulder.
"Now isn't the time to have a big ceremony. We will make it more formal later, Sir Smith."
This was the first time I had ever seen the former Sergeant taken aback.
A dazed-looking Sir Smith said, "Thank you, My Lord and Lady, I never thought this day would arrive."
"I'm sorry it had to come like this,” I replied. “This promotion will also go to Sergeant Waters at Bodmin and those successful in the former Baronies of Pirthtowan and Wadebridge."
Eleanor added, "it is early in your grief, but please look out for those who will trip you and land under you."
"I will be careful of those women."
"Who said it was only women?" Eleanor smirked.
The old Knight blushed.
"Aye, you have the right of it, My Lady."
We spent several hours discussing the specific current needs of the Barony. They were fewer than I thought. Sir Smith and the Dowager had been busy and taken to heart all the new improvements.
I told him of my concerns about the Barons surrounding Pirthtowan and Wadebridge. He had spent time with them and gave some insight into their conditions. It wasn't encouraging.
I could see more warfare in our future. The question now was, should I wait for others to start it or be proactive?
Chapter 2
War was in the future. My immediate concern was to integrate the Middle Counites.
I called what was beginning to be my brain trust together. The people that I had come to lean on and, more importantly, trust.
This group comprised Eleanor, John Steward, Tom Smith, John Chandler, Abbott Luke, and Father Timothy.
Thad was taking notes with Linda Runner stationed outside the door to run errands if needed. The door was guarded by Sara Farmer, head of the Baroness's Own, responsible for the Keep's security.
James Stone was a recent addition to the group for at least this meeting. He was the senior supervisor of the Owen-nap Road building crews.
Eleanor and I had decided the first step in unifying the new larger Barony was to create a road network. I remembered back home that one could tell one had crossed a political boundary because of the changes in the road surface. All the roads in one county would be made to the same specification, but others would be different.
You could tell well-to-do counties by their road types and conditions. I explained this to the gathered group. Not about my previous timeframe, but the common roads identified a community.
After many hours of discussion and several breaks, we concluded there would be three common levels of roads put into place.
The first level would be the major roads connecting the Keep of each of the former Baronies. These would be four lanes wide, two in each direction, with a median between them, much like the interstate highways from my time.
There would be turnout areas for camping and, ultimately, wayside inns.
These would be all-weather roads with good drainage so that commerce could continue year-round. Taking lessons from the Romans, the roads would have a deep foundation, but we would pour concrete as the top surface.
There would be bridges over any stream, sturdy, with stone piers supporting the ends and each span. There would be no fording at any point.
Drainage would be achieved by ditches with culverts collecting the water and dumping it into retention ponds.
All trees and brush along the road would be trimmed back so that ambushes would be difficult.
This plan was ambitious. The surveying of the routes would take several months. The road building itself would require at least two years.
That was with road crews working from Owen-nap, Saltash, Bodmin, Wendon, Pirthtowan, and Wadebridge.
New mines, crushers, and kilns would have to be opened to provide the needed limestone. And the kilns would need local coal.
The introduction of horse-drawn road scrapers with iron-faced blades by James Stone would help immensely. They were similar to the Fresno Road Scrapers from my time. This invention was why James was now the Superintendent of Roads of the Middle Counties.
James would have a staff of inspectors to track each crew's work. No standing around on this project. He would be headquartered in Owen-nap, which was becoming the Capital of the area.
Eleanor and I had also debated using Saltash as the Capital. Owen-nap won out over the larger Saltash because of its central location.
The secondary roads would be similar to the first level roads, but they would only have one lane with frequent turnouts. Like the first level, they would have a concrete surface and all-weather drainage.
They would go from Keep to each village or major work area. Mines and mills would rate the secondary roads.
As things progressed, traffic would dictate which roads would be upgraded to two lanes. I doubted we would ever need four-lane roads.
The third-level roads would go from village to individual holdings. These roads would be scraped earth, covered in gravel. As time, traffic, and money permitted, they would be upgraded to secondary roads.
Not wanting to get too bogged down in details, I set up a subcommittee comprised of James Stone, Tom Smith, Father Timothy, and Eleanor to develop the support needed to build the roads.
We needed an estimate of the manpower required and the tools, such as picks and shovels. Then there were heavier machines like scrapers and rollers to compact the earth and gravel and a myriad of wagons.
Oxen or horses would be needed to pull the wagons along with drivers. And they would need food and water. Fortunately, we wouldn't have to haul water to many locations as streams were abundant.
People need to be fed, so chuck wagons had to be provided. They were used to either bringing their own food or working hungry, but I calculated they would work more efficiently if I ensured they had adequate nutrition.
The routes need to be surveyed, so our surveying crews would be busy.
And this would all require money. While the treasury was in good shape, it wasn't unlimited.
Eleanor gave me a nasty look but didn't say anything. I suspect we will have a conversation in our room tonight. She feels the same way about committees as I do. They are tools of the devil.
Several days later and many mea culpas, I was at the Monastery to see how they were coming on the book projects, particularly those I had been dictating.
Walking through the main copying area, I heard a young Monk chastised because his lines weren't level. They were straight, but at an angle.
I stopped out of curiosity and found the problem as described. The lines were straight because the young man used a straight edge but hadn't kept it parallel with the preceding lines.
The copyist was working at a small desk with no angle to it. I couldn't help but make a suggestion or two.
"There would be fewer errors if he had a T-square available."
"What's a T-square, My Lord?"
It was simple to explain how one worked.
"We should make the working surface larger and adjustable to different angles while at it. May I borrow this young man for a while? I want to take him to the cabinetmaker and arrange for one to be built?"
"You may have this young lout forever, as far as I'm concerned."
Forgetting my original mission, the young man and I proceeded to the cabinetmaker's shop. On the way, I quizzed him about his time as a junior Monk. Without directly saying it, I could tell he hated it.
William Farmer was a bright and personable young man, and I saw a lot of promise in him. Monastic life was a waste of his talents.
Mark Woodson came to my side as soon as we entered his shop. Strange how they always had time for me when I needed it.
Several sketches later, the drafting board was born a thousand years early. The T-square, a right triangle, and a thirty-degree triangle accompanied it.
It was a shame that we didn't have clear plastic, but thin wood would do the trick.
Woodson even figured out a way to adjust the drafting table without using any of the metal we needed for so many other projects, using a ratcheted wooden support over a dowel to shift the table’s angle about 7 degrees at a time.
A drawer would hold the drafting tools.
From there, we segued into a drawing cabinet. I told William that he was to work with Master Woodson to find the best table height. It would even need a special stool.
"I see these as possible items to be manufactured and sold in London. Pay attention, and we may get you out of the Monastery and into sales or production."
He brightened up at these prospects and made arrangements with Mark to be available every step of the way.
I wrote a note to his supervising monk saying the young lout was now mine forever. If this project didn't pan out, I had many other uses for him.
The hardest part of the drafting table project was the wingnut on the adjustment slide. The thread count was critical to how easy it would be to adjust the table angle.
No one would want to spend too much time getting the angle just right.
It was a slow process, but we could meet our anticipated needs. How many drafting boards could be needed in London?
Another business venture was starting up. I financed Paul Stableman, who was in charge of the Keep's stables, in starting a haulage company between the former Baronies, now known as Districts.
It was our version of UPS. The only difference was that the wagons would take animals in crates from one District to another, plus the normal packages and correspondence.
Paul took service to a new level when he allowed drunks to mail themselves home. This was not to be confused with a taxi service. The drunks were treated as a package, tossed into the back of the wagon, and delivered by the same method.
No one mailed themselves twice. Paul also had a transportation wagon with multiple seats. It even had a roof to keep the rain off. I wondered what good that was on the open-sided wagon.
But it did move people from one District to another with relative ease. Before, they would have had to walk. Few chose to do that, as bandits had been a problem.
There were no bandits to speak of these days. My arrmsmen patrolled the roads. Besides, we had full employment, which helped more than the patrols.
I had considered setting up a system of semaphore towers between the districts.
Unfortunately, we don't have useable telescopes yet. Working out the cost of towers and crews without the advantage of telescopes made them too expensive.
And while we had copper, it seemed too soon for our technical base to set up a telegraph system. That was probably several years away.
I did have a pony express system set up for carrying urgent news either. This was for emergencies only, like being invaded. Runs were made once a month to keep the system as a viable option. It was like testing the emergency broadcast system.
Our mounted troops made the runs, which were a new addition to our forces. It didn't take long for the rides to become a contest. Once riders were competing against each other, gambling followed.
Crude clocks were sealed in a pouch so they couldn't be tampered with. A few bets between riders were okay. But when the general public became involved, corruption worked its way in.
I had the people involved in the first fixing of the races hanged. Then I forbade the carrying of clocks.
The newspaper made a big deal out of covering the story. There was an official editorial supporting my actions. An op-ed also stated I was taking the fun out of life.
My first reaction was to hang the op-eds author, but I loved Eleanor too much for that. It did open up a conversation about allowing some Barony-wide events and even officially sanctioned gambling.
I returned to the Monastery a week later to see the new drafting table. They called it the drawing table, but a rose is a rose by any other name. Right?
The woodworking part of it was magnificent. This was made like a piece of furniture to be handed down for generations.
The ones from my first life were nice but had a commercial, made-in-a-factory look. This table looked crude only when you looked underneath to see the tilting mechanism.
It was functional but didn't have the smooth look of machine-cast parts. More like a piece hammered out by a blacksmith. Surprise.
William Farmer proudly showed me how the T-square and triangles worked together. The lip on the T-square to prevent ink from flowing underneath was like an eighth wonder of the world to him.
His supervisor wanted to know how soon I could replace their work desks with these wonderful devices. I told him the Abbott had to order and negotiate the prices with Mark Woodson.
This one was a gift. The Monastery had to buy others.
Chapter 3
The road network would have mile markers, which would be the basis for surveying property boundaries. The stone zero-mile maker was at the well in Owen-nap. It was the tallest at ten feet. All the others were six feet tall.
Unfortunately, the tall zero marker became known as the Baron's Prick. I hated it, but Eleanor would giggle every time she saw it.
I'm glad I didn't make it shorter than the others.
The mile markers and the attendant surveys would take several years. As each section of the Barony was surveyed, a map would be updated. The written record would prevent the tragedy of enclosure at a later date.
The maps created were listed as a state secret, and few were allowed access.
That meant the first person to request access was the new Advocate. His client was in a boundary feud. When the request came to me for approval, I sent a new set of surveyors out to reconfirm the boundaries.
The farmer trying to claim his neighbor's land was charged for the survey. That was the last time anyone tried to steal land through the use of a lawyer. Did I mention I disliked lawyers, even while recognizing their need in certain cases?
While all this was going on, there was a full-blown census being carried out in the Baronies that had just been added.
This census not only did a headcount but listed all major farm animals and known raw material deposits on the land.
One of my trips took me back to the leather works. Things still weren't moving fast enough for me. The bellows for the blast furnace were still a month or more away.
For some reason, my funny memory brought up a book that I had read many years ago. Why I thought of it, I don't know, but I did.
My mind was like a library. I had to think of a specific book to open it. In this case, I had almost forgotten the book existed.
When I 'opened' the book, it had descriptions of two very useful technologies I brought them up in our brain trust meetings.
The first was a method of compressing air without electricity.
This method depended on water falling far enough into sealed chambers. The rapidly falling water compresses the air in the chambers. The air can then be piped away to provide compressed air for various uses.
With two or more such chambers, you can have a fairly steady flow of compressed air, and unlike most air compression mechanisms, this does not heat the air as it is compressed. It absorbs and carries away the heat. This procedure was used in drilling one of the early Alpine tunnels.
The second device was a Ram pump to lift water. Known as trompes, they are very simple devices. They consist of four main parts: a water supply pipe or shaft with an air inlet inside it, a water outflow pipe, a separation chamber, and a takeoff air pipe.
The vertical pipe or shaft goes down from a higher point to a separation chamber. A pipe typically narrower than the previous one, coming away from that chamber, allows the water to exit at a lower level, and another pipe (air pipe) coming from the chamber allows the compressed air to exit as needed.
Water rushing down the vertical pipe falls through a constriction. The constriction produces a lower pressure, the venturi effect, and an external port allows air to be sucked in, thus creating a constant air supply.
The air forms bubbles in the pipe. As the bubbles go down the pipe, they are pressurized proportionally to the hydraulic head, which is the height of the column of water in the pipe. The compressed air rises to the top of the separation chamber (wind box). The separation chamber has a compressed air takeoff pipe, and the compressed air can be used as a power source.
We could raise a water column about seventy percent of the height of the device. We could use this in combination with the air compressor in our blast furnace to replace the bellows, and fill water towers for each Keep, village, and even individual farms if they had streams nearby.
I rounded up my brain trust as I thought of them. After explaining the devices, the questions came.
Eleanor started. "James, what is this venturi effect you talk of?"
"Are you aware that liquid water can't be compressed?"
"Do you take me for an idiot, dear husband?"
The dangerous ground here!
"No, dear, I just want to be certain we all have the same understanding of the nature of water."
"Okay, continue."
"Think of the stream where the battle of Bodmin occurred. Near the battle site, the water flow is slow and peaceful. Further downstream, it narrows and flows faster. As you know, these are rapids. There water moves faster since the water can't be compressed when the banks narrow.
"When the banks widen, the water flows slower. This change in speed of flow by constricting the width of the stream gives the venturi effect. Now imagine if we used a pipe with a wide opening and then narrowed it down. The water pressure would be greater because the same amount of water is pushing against a smaller area."
I had come prepared for this with twelve tubes. Half of them had a much larger diameter than the other. I had them take a mouthful of water and blow it through the tubes. The larger tube spilled into their laps. The smaller shot across the room.
While they got the point, my humor wasn't appreciated. Abbott Luke mumbled about respecting one's elders. Eleanor called me a brat.
I didn't go into the air pressure differential as they didn't need to know, and I was uncertain how to demonstrate it.
"Next, I would like to demonstrate that, unlike water, air can be compressed."
For this demonstration, I had a crude hypodermic syringe made. There was no needle, just a small plugged hole at the end. When the injector was pressed down, it compressed the air.
The airflow out of the hole could be seen on a feather I held in front of it.
Father Timothy stated, "This is the venturi effect once more."
I plugged the hole back up and recharged the syringe. After letting it sit for a minute, I unplugged the hole, and all could see the air rushing out as the feather moved.
I then refilled the syringe with water and performed the same action. When pressed, the water flowed out in a stream.
"This is water being pushed through a constriction. Now watch. I’ll push the injector as far as I can. Since water can't be compressed, it will stop. The water will stream out when I pull the plug at the bottom."
Performing that action, it streamed as predicted.
"Now, let's put the plug back in and press the injector. Instead of pulling the plug immediately, we will let it sit. Since there will be no pressure pushing on the water, it will not flow faster."
When I pulled the plug, the water came out slowly.
"Compressed air stays at the same pressure as long as it is contained. We will have the water raised to fall and compress the air using the ram pump. The falling water will compress the air. Two of them will provide more air than the bellows, and as Tom knows, the higher pressure will make the flame burn hotter.
"Why is that?" asked John Steward.
Tom answered, "The fire needs air. The more you give it, the hotter it burns. To stop a fire, we cut off the air supply with a heavy blanket."
Father Timothy said, "So, when did you learn these 'natural laws,' as you call them?"
"I don't know. I was at the tanners, and all of a sudden, the thoughts were in my mind."
"I don't see how this could be the devil's work. Yet I have never heard of God working in this manner."
I replied, "but doesn't the good book say God moves in mysterious ways?"
"Not directly, but you have a point."
Fortunately, the conversation moved on to building a practical device. Tom would assign two apprentices that were better trained to build it under his supervision. It would be their journeyman project.
Abbott Luke, of course, wanted to print a book. We convinced him to wait until we had a finished device so illustrations could be made.
I wasn't sure if we wanted to share this knowledge now. It had both tactical and strategic benefits. We estimated it would take two months if all went well. It hadn't yet. There was always something, but one could hope.
Thad brought up an interesting point.
"Could the glass blowers use this compressed air? I notice the men have to take many breaks, as they only have so much breath."
I almost jumped for joy. "Thad, you are a genius. Of course, they can blow glass with compressed air."
Our glass house had three furnaces. The first, which holds a crucible of molten glass, is simply referred to as "the furnace." The second is called the "glory hole" and is used to reheat a piece in between steps of working with it. The final furnace is called the "lehr" or "annealer" and is used to slowly cool the glass over a period of a few hours to a few days, depending on the size of the pieces. This keeps the glass from cracking or shattering due to thermal stress.
We had the major tools used by a glassblower. The blowpipe, mandrel, bench, marver, blocks, jacks, paddles, tweezers, pads, and various shears.
The tip of the blowpipe is first preheated; then dipped in the molten glass in the furnace. The molten glass is "gathered" onto the end of the blowpipe in much the same way that viscous honey is picked up on a honey dipper. This glass is then rolled on the marver, a flat slab of marble.
This process, called "marvering," forms a cool skin on the exterior of the molten glass blob and shapes it. Then the air is blown into the pipe, creating a bubble. Next, the glassworker can gather more glass over that bubble to create a larger piece.
The bottom is finalized once a piece has been blown to its approximate final size. Then, the molten glass is attached to a stainless steel or iron rod called a mandrel for shaping and transferring the hollow piece from the blowpipe to provide an opening and finalize the top.
There are many ways to apply patterns and color to blown glass, including rolling molten glass in powdered color or larger pieces of colored glass called "frit." Complex patterns with great detail can be created through the use of cane (rods of colored glass) and murrine (rods cut in cross-sections to reveal patterns).
These pieces of color can be arranged in a pattern on a flat surface and then "picked up" by rolling a bubble of molten glass over them. One of the most exacting and complicated caneworking techniques is "reticello," which involves creating two bubbles from a cane, each twisted in a different direction, then combining them and blowing out the final form.
The people in the glasshouse knew about the techniques. I gave them the names from a book on glassmaking I had memorized. I was surprised to learn these techniques had been known for hundreds of years, just not in our backwater.
Having compressed air would enable us to increase the production of molded pieces dramatically. No more extended breaks for our glassblowers. Since I owned the glasshouse, my profits would go up. I had to remember to share these with the workers.
We could increase the production of plates, saucers, and goblets immediately. More molds would be needed, but they were the least of my worries.
I got so lost in thought that my brain trust left me sitting at the table.
Chapter 4
I could kick myself. I had forgotten a book that gave us compressed air for our blast furnaces, glassmaking, and other uses. Yet there was an easy way to find out what books I had read that might be useful.
As a special student of many years at MIT, I was given some unusual freedoms. One of those was permission to the Hayden library stacks. Of course, I hadn't read all the books, but when I pictured the shelves in my mind, I would try to open a book.
I browsed my mental remembrance of the areas which touched on historical engineering. Over the course of my almost forty years at MIT, I have written many papers and used a great number of books.
Like most people, I first checked the index for the subjects I was interested in and specifically looked at those pages. That meant that while I had many of those books in hand, or in mind, in this case, I hadn't read them, so I couldn't bring them up.
Even so, I found many useful books.
One had a history of developing the first measuring instruments. I was interested in how to measure to the nearest thousandths of an inch. Fortunately, it had been a reference in one of my many papers.
We had to make gauge blocks or, as some called them, jo blocks. I wouldn't introduce that term. I talked to Tom and his apprentice, explaining that I had remembered a different approach.
Making sets of gauge blocks that could be used for precision measurements in all the shops was a necessary first step in cutting or machining accurately in wood or metal, but we really needed adjustable fine measuring tools, like micrometers, or as close as we could get.
For some reason, the design and building of such devices had never been part of my extensive engineering and science education. They were always just assumed, like axioms in plane geometry.
I had to reason from first principles instead. I knew that with the gauge blocks and existing tooling, I could make a consistently reproducible large measurement of about a quarter inch. I never could sell the metric system and had given up.
To make reproducible adjustable measurements, I was going to need screw threads. They would have to be cut accurately in metal. The key was to make up a bunch of cutting heads of the hardest steel I could forge and spend time getting those as nearly identical as I could manage.
Then, working from one gauge block for consistency and using simple geometry, I’d cut a set of gears with ten teeth each, and use those to advance at a steady rate a cutting head to cut a large thread around a one-inch diameter brass rod.
Once I had a brass rod a couple of feet long with ten threads to the inch, I could use that and the gears to advance a cutting head around another brass rod at 100 threads to the inch. The rods had to be brass at this stage so that my steel tools could cut them, though even brass required frequent replacement of cutting heads.
Once I had the gears and the threaded rods, I could use them to make more threaded rods, but the first set would be the standard. As soon as I could, I would make up a set of rods and gears in steel for permanence, and they’d be the new standard.
Using our new magnifying lenses, the accuracy and consistency of the thread count with either metal were checked with the smallest gauge blocks we had.
With accurately threaded rods and gears, it would be simple to adjust a cutting head on a lathe to a tolerance of a thousandth of an inch and even move the tool along the object being turned by similar tolerances.
We could start producing drill presses and other accurate machine tools, but they would all need threaded rods and accurately cut gears, so producing the tooling to make the rods and gears consistently and the “tools to make the tools” was the key.
Then take the tooling part to an inch block and measure the part to be cut. Take a 1/8 or 1/10 block to measure threads randomly. Set up the cutting machine with gears that turn the rod 100 times for each inch it advances. You may have to run the rod through the cutter multiple times to cut the grooves deep enough.
To complete the micrometer you build from this, you need a mating hollow cylinder grooved on the inside with cut grooves corresponding to the ones on the rod. Advancing the rod 1 inch per hundred turns is the easy part.
Holding the cutting head in the right position, and keeping it the right size, shape, and hardness throughout the cutting process, is the hard part.
To minimize drag and heat buildup, you’re going to do most of the cutting in a flax oil bath, which will do a lot to extend the life of our cutting heads. The first time we cut will primarily be to establish a wear rate on our cutting heads so we know how often to change them.
It's a shame olive oil isn't being imported from Rome anymore. It was a better lubricant than flax oil, but we had to work with what we had. To my knowledge, we didn't have any open oil seeps, and the chemistry to get oil out of coal tars was far beyond us.
Now that I had this wonderful mental breakthrough, the gauge blocks and screw rods had to be made. That would probably take the better part of this year.
Then there was manufacturing enough tools to be useful, and training a workforce in their use.
Aside from my work with the Smiths, I had many other irons in the fire. One of my plans was to have an icehouse in each District. I was trying not to think of them as Baronies anymore but as subsets of my Barony of the Middle Counties.
I ignored the fact that calling it the Middle Counties suggested I might be a Count. I wasn't ready to put that big of a target on my back.
The problem with an icehouse in every District was the need for a place to store the ice. In Owen-nap, I was able to take advantage of a cavern in a convenient location.
All the others had caverns of various sizes, but all were in the wrong place. So ice houses would have to be built in each District with poured concrete walls. These would be double walls with air space to act as insulation.
To enter would require passing through a triple-doored hallway large enough for wagons, with only one door open at a time.
The one in Saltash would be enormous as the town was more than twice the size of all the others.
We had to erect longhouses in each District to house students and schoolrooms. Boys and girls would be in separate buildings. We had learned that lesson.
Then there was ensuring that there was safe drinking water. This included wells or aqueducts and sewage systems. Plans were drawn up for a real sewage system instead of nightsoil collection. Owen-nap, as the most advanced, would receive the first system. Saltash, as the largest with the most housing and poorly laid roads, would be the last.
I authorized the building of Inns or Taverns by private enterprise. Our workforce was only so large. Let private enterprises pick up the slack.
Not to give the impression that it was all work and no play, Eleanor and I spent some nice evenings together. Besides the expected, I read to her. The libraries I browsed had fiction sections, and I brought some books home.
I read several different novels to her that I remembered word for word. I found that she had a taste for steamy romances. My late wife Dory also had that taste, which is why I read them. Sure.
What I didn't know was that we had eavesdroppers. In their roles as maids Marion and Anne had to be close by to attend to Eleanor's needs. That was their story, and they were sticking to it. We wouldn’t have known they were listening in if Anne hadn’t sneezed.
After that, they joined the readings openly. The three ladies enjoyed discussing each character and how they acted. To make the story understandable, I changed cars to carriages and TVs to fireplaces, among other things.
Even so, there were several awkward discussions. I had to explain what a baby bottle was. Once they understood, there was an immediate demand for me to introduce them locally. It meant that the men could feed the child during the night!
I might end up getting stoned to death by all the husbands.
Things grew from there. The maids started sharing the stories with their friends. Before you knew it, both maids were taking notes as I read. I wasn't surprised when stories started showing up in our newspaper.
When that first appeared, I realized I needed less steam and more romance. I tried that for a while until Father Timothy asked me why the stories were becoming boring. I had forgotten how bawdy this age was.
Abbott Luke got into the act. He asked permission to print books with the stories. I said yes, but realized they would need some careful editing. No flying machines or light bulbs. Dishwashers would be scullery maids.
I dedicated half an hour daily to reading a new chapter with scribes capturing it all. It hadn't occurred to me to do that with the technical manuals and textbooks I was transcribing, so there was a benefit from all this.
I even thought about introducing the rotary press but realized that it was beyond our technical capabilities at this time.
Abbott Luke solved the problem by commissioning three new presses to be built and a new building to house the printing operations.
The most popular story I read to the ladies was Sir Henry Fielding's 'Tom Jones.' It was bawdy, but not as raw as some books I had read. Those books wouldn't have bothered my audience, but they left me blushing.
At the rate we were going, we would need to build a paper mill. The local hand operations had a hard time keeping up. When we started shipping books to London, we would need a lot of paper and ink.
Not an immediate problem, but a growing concern. I had spent a lot of silver, and if things didn’t change by the middle of next year, I would have to cut back.
Cutting back meant putting school and road projects on hold. They didn’t produce income in the short term, but long-term growth would be endangered without them.
I would have to make a trip to London later this year or early next to see what new trade deals might be set up. A trip to London brought about a new set of concerns. Here I was, a big deal. There I was, nothing. I could be made to disappear, and no one there would worry.
Why anyone would do this, I don’t know, but it was something to think about. I had to figure- out how to accomplish the trip without making waves.
Word had come back through John Chandlers, people who went back and forth to London, that Saltash was being watched carefully as new inventions emanated from there.
I hadn't been identified as the source, but it wouldn’t be long before word would trickle out. If nothing else, a copy of our newspaper making its way to London would let the cat out of the bag. Worse yet, it put a big target on my back.
Some would want to conquer me, others kill me, and all would be jealous of what was being built here.
Chapter 5
Speaking of those who might attack. I had to become more familiar with the surrounding Baronies. There were more Baronies of concern other than the ones adjacent to Pirthtowan and Wadebridge. However, those were the most critical at this time.
There was a need for a file on each of them. Including the number of troops maintained, their weapons, training levels, trained reserves, if any, etc.
Layouts of each Keep, road system, and the state of food supplies would be needed. Then a profile of each Baron and their family. Also, any alliances they have or important connections with the powers in London.
I set this in motion for Polventor, Lewanniet, Pensilva, and Gaberton. Interestingly, I had seen books with maps of modern and ancient Cornwall.
There was a long list of contingent Baronies now. There would be more as we expanded. I realized that the stronger my possessions became, the more tempting a target they were. This seemed to set up an almost endless cycle. Would I have to conquer the world to have peace?
Not on my to-do list, which was for sure.
The next most critical Barony to pay attention to was Looe. It was located between Pirthtowan and Bodmin to their north. It could attack either one.
Looe was on my list of Unknowns. They might be the most peaceful people around, but I needed a first read on them and dispatched scouts to perform a surface investigation.
Further north of Bodmin was Padstow. It was not as much of a concern as the Brunwenely Hills were between them and Bodmin. It would take invaders several days to circle around. Even so, a file was started on them.
Bude and Caustock were west and southwest of Wendon. They had made no moves against Wendon, but again, I needed to know their state of affairs.
East and west of Saltash were Redruth and Fowey. They had been trading peacefully through Saltash long before I came on the scene, and I didn't think they would be a problem. Still, they were on my list to investigate.
Then there were Hilston and Liskeard. Both were northwest of Wendon. The Brunwenely Hills were between Wendon and them. Still, I needed to know. They would be the last on my list to investigate.
I hoped to have a first look at them by the end of summer. After the harvests were in would be the danger time.
Then there were the Brunwenely Hills themselves. From what I could gather, they were avoided by most people. There were rumors of strange happenings at the two cairns on top of the Mountain.
I wasn't superstitious and wondered if there were any veins of ore to be found on the hill. To me, it was a high hill, to the locals, a mountain.
A mining crew was dispatched to the hill area with orders to look for possible ores in the southeast quadrant of the area. This would keep them away from the adjacent Baronies.
I didn't want to start anything with them, so I felt it was best to keep our distance.
When the first spy/scouts returned from checking out those next to Pirthtowan and Wadebridge, they had an answer to my question.
"Were they planning on invading us."
The answer was a resounding, "No. Maybe. We don't know."
There were no overt signs of preparing for war. But at this time of year, there wouldn't be. The troops would be assembled in the fall.
They observed messengers shuttling back and forth between the four Baronies. More than one would expect.
They could be in the planning stages for war or a huge harvest festival. We would have to embed people with them to get a better idea.
My people were getting better at this spy business. It only took several weeks to have people wander into the larger villages and take up work in public places like Inns and Taverns. It would be slow going, but they would find out what the planning was all about.
In the meantime, I detailed the scouts to find areas along the trail to each of the four Baronies that would be good battle spaces. For us, that is.
They identified spots for Pensilva and Bolventor that were perfect. There was no need for any battlefield preparation. Hand-drawn maps of the area made it easy for us to make our battle plan.
Areas for troops were designated. The actual battlefield would be staked out to show each unit where they would be placed. This would occur just before the battle, so no one would accidentally stumble across them.
Lewanniet and Gaberton had several possible sites, but they would need some improvements, such as a small bridge at one stream and a staircase up a steep hill in the other.
With my combat engineering experience, designing a portable bridge for the stream was easy. The staircase parts would be brought in as a kit. Troops could dig out the flats for the staircase boards and install handrails in no time.
I had learned the hard way to have handrails on both sides to accommodate right and left-handed people.
Being late spring, with planting just finishing, it was a good time to take inventory of our forces.
At this time, I had thirty crossbowmen and twenty men at arms. When I had gone against Wadebridge, it was with thirty-five men. After taking Wade and Pirth, as the troops called them, we recruited from their villages.
From what information we could gather, the new four, as my brain trust called them, had seventy-five men at arms and twenty bowmen.
It was easy to train a crossbowman, but almost a lifetime for an archer.
We needed more soldiers but had seemly tapped out the available manpower. That is until my good wife reminded me that we hadn’t touched our woman power.
Though the US Army hadn't allowed women onto the battlefield, at least in my day. I had seen what women could do. From French partisans to Viet Cong fighters, they got the job done. I would stack the Israeli women against any army in the world.
Our first recruiting call netted us over one hundred women. Of those, eighty made it through our basic training.
So now we had a potential army of one hundred and seventy-five soldiers. Not warriors, but still soldiers.
I still fretted about what the four Baronies' intentions were. Eleanor got tired of me questioning things.
She finally said, "Why don't you ask them."
I was flummoxed. It was so obvious! After stuttering around a bit, I admitted that it had never occurred to me.
My recent experiences with the different Baronies had been bad, so I assumed they would all go that way.
I sent an envoy to each of them, inviting a delegation to come to Owen-nap and see what we were doing.
All four of them accepted my offer. None of the Barons came themselves, but I hadn't expected them to. Hostage-taking is an honored tradition in this day and age.
The envoys traveled together. There were two representatives and five men at arms from each Barony. It was an impressive cavalcade that came to Owen-nap.
Since our scouts knew when they left Pensilva, we had a welcoming committee waiting for them.
Somehow a combined regular and reserve forces training day got scheduled at the same time. The soldiers were on a field exercise that happened to be next to the main road from Wade to Owen-nap.
My people accompanying them said nothing, and the envoys pretended not to notice. I bet their escorting soldiers did!
The envoys were richly dressed. Flowing robes over tunic and trousers. The robes were different colors and had an embroidered crest sewn on them. I wasn't familiar with them, assuming they represented each Barony.
The one with a green robe was from Bolventor, Sir Edwin. The red-robed one, Sir Thomas from Lewanniet. The dark blue robe belonged to Sir Lucas from Pensilva. Last was a brown drab-looking robe worn by Sir Stephen of Gaberton.
From the touches of silver in their hair and sun-worn looks, I would guess they were all in their forties. Other than the robes, they were remarkably similar in their looks, medium height, barrel-chested, dark hair, and dark eyes.
As I guessed, they were all advisors to their Barons.
Their guards were well turned out and looked like they knew what they were doing. Each group of five was well aware of its surroundings. I bet they didn't like seeing our field exercises. I think they got the message.
I hope that seeing such power would squash any ideas of invading. Our self-introductions were bland except for Sir Edwin from Bolventor.
He started with, "So you’re the Baron who attacked the two lesser Baronies."
"No, I'm the Baron who struck back at an assassination attempt."
"We are to take your word for that?"
"If you please, your opinion doesn't change anything."
"You dare to challenge the mighty Bolventor."
At this point, Sir Stephen of Gaberton broke in.
"I think we are getting off on the wrong foot. Let's start over."
Looking like he had swallowed a lemon, Sir Edwin backed down.
"I apologize if you took what I said amiss."
He wasn't apologizing for his statements. It was my misunderstanding. If it was war, I knew who was going first.
Gaberton. They were the strength of the four.
Publicly I shrugged it off and invited them into my Keep for refreshments. I wanted them to see the surrounding walls and the Keep itself.
The female crossbow women walking the ramparts wait also on display. Coincidentally, target practice was going on, and the ladies quickly put bolt after bolt into the center ring.
Yesterday they had a shoot off, and the best was practicing now. Stack the deck? Of course!
After luncheon, I showed the envoys around the village. Sir Thomas commented on how clean it was. I took the opportunity to explain the new sewage system and our water sources. I had to show them both wells within the Keep's walls. I didn’t have to, but I wanted to let them know we could withstand a siege.
They voiced appreciation for the grain storage within the walls. I took them to the main storage area for wheat we would be selling this year. They made no comments. I think they were speechless. I informed the Barons that each farm had storage on site to feed them for the year.
The blacksmith shop, tannery, and glass works all had been cleaned up to look their best. The visitors were overwhelmed, so I took them back to our open-air tavern by the main well and bought them a drink.
By design, Abbott Luke dropped by with the latest edition of our newspaper. Sir Thomas wanted to know why we had a newspaper when only a few could read.
Abbott Luke quickly disabused him of this idea because all in the Middle County Baronies were learning to read, write, and do mathematics.
Sir Stephen picked up on the Middle County Baronies.
"I thought this was Owen-nap?"
"It is, but now it is only one District in our Barony."
"What are the others?”
“Wendon, Bodmin, Saltash, and of course, you know of Pirthtowan, and Wadebridge."
Now it was Sir Stephen who looked like he had swallowed a lemon.
After dinner, they were shown to their rooms in the Keep. They were even allowed to have two of their guards at their door. The others were given bunks in the barracks.
I was looking forward to tomorrow. The Knights still had to be shown the mining operations and sit through a presentation by Agnes on health care and mortality rates. Then there was the road system.
When we were done, they would want what we had, but would know they couldn't take it.
Chapter 6
I headed to the blacksmith shop several days later at a brisk walk. Tom Smith sent me a message asking for a meeting at his shop.
I was the one that called meetings and summoned people. Being summoned had never happened before, so I was very curious.
When I entered the room, Tom Smith, Simon Mason, and Philip Miner were waiting for me. On a slab table in front of me were samples of the iron and lime we were turning out.
“Look at this shite! My Lord!” said Smith. “We’re getting plenty of iron now from the smelters you’ve set up, but the iron is of poor quality, spongy, and full of impurities. Which require a great deal of time and effort in the forge to clean up."
He continued, "With all your new projects, we need a better grade of iron to meet our needs."
I’ve heard similar stories from Philip here about the lime we are turning out and Mason, the brickyard operator. We have ample quantity, but the quality leaves much to be desired!”
“What do you suggest we do about it, Smith?” I asked, knowing full well the answer. I had been putting this off because of the cost involved. I wasn't made of silver.
“My Lord, I suspect the problem is that none of our furnaces can get hot enough to purify the materials we’re refining or bake the bricks hard. The coal we’re burning turns to black smoke up the chimneys and rains down all around. I don’t think it’s burning completely, as what doesn’t go up the chimney comes out as lumps in the ashes when we bank the fires.”
He was right. It is incomplete combustion. We’re wasting fuel and not getting enough heat for what we’re burning.
"My Lord, we have to spend some coin to improve the heat we generate if we are going to have the quality, we need to make real steel and be cost-effective."
Again, he was correct, and though my pocketbook complained loudly, I knew the investments had to be made. Once more, I was reminded that these people were ignorant in some situations. But they weren't as backward as I sometimes thought and not close to being stupid.
I said, “Simon, come see me. I have some new kinds of bricks that might help."
"How are the new water chambers to compress air for the furnaces working? Are they not making the fires hotter? And with less labor?”
“The quality from those furnaces is better, My Lord, but still not as good as we need.”
That tears it, I thought. We would have to rework the furnaces and the air supplies to get hotter temperatures. The blast furnaces may require something else.
Mason inquired. “When, My Lord?”
“Right after this meeting, let's go to your yard. I want you to bake more clay pipes, and on some of them, you need to taper just the ends, the last foot, or so, of the pipes, down to a third of their usual diameter.”
“What’s this for, if I may ask, My Lord?” he responded.
“We need enough pipes to direct more air, at least one pipe with a tapered end in each square yard of the furnace interiors. We must push more air into the furnaces to make them burn hotter. Tapering the air pipes will speed the air and force it deeper in the kilns and furnaces.”
“Very well, My Lord. Shall I prepare the brick linings for more compression tanks, too? And will you divert another stream to supply water to flood the tanks?”
He is a bright fellow.
“Good thinking, Mason. Make it so!”
Turning back to Tom, I continued, “we need to divert some of the lime supply to the blast furnaces to replace the crushed limestone we’ve been putting in with the iron ore and coal.
“The increased efficiency of the improved lime kilns should prevent a shortfall in lime production, and I think you’ll find that by using lime, even bad lime, instead of limestone, and by making the furnaces hotter, we’ll get purer iron, purer lime, and harder bricks!”
I could see that my last statements had Philip dancing in place.
"Yes, Philip?"
"My Lord, we won’t be able to keep up with the needs for good lime if we do this."
"I know we will need more limestone operations to keep up. Plan a limestone mine and kiln operation in every District in the next six months. That is the only way we can build our highways."
"That will cost a fortune!"
I mentally groaned but didn't show it outwards.
"That is my problem to handle. Yours is to provide the lime."
I had to appear confident to my followers, or they would lose heart. This was the same as leading troops in combat. Raising money was much easier, and no one was shooting at me. At least yet.
Simon, "Let's go over to the brickyard, and I will show you what I want in the pipes."
"Maybe we should go to the new drafting table in the Monastery and make a drawing so production will know what we need. I gather this will use that venturi effect you demonstrated the other day?"
As I said, ignorance is not the same as stupidity.
"Good thinking."
I turned to Tom and Philip, "When Simon has the tubes available, you must build new kilns and furnaces. It will be less costly than reworking the current ones. I am sure that we will have some uses for them."
Tom and Philip looked at each other.
Tom spoke up, "We can get a head start by laying the foundations for the new works. Tearing down the old kilns and furnaces would save time and cost if we used their materials to build the new ones."
He continued, "You realize we will need at least twice the new air compression capacity."
"Yes, start on that now."
My poor treasury would be like Mother Hubbard's cupboard.
These changes would slow production until the furnaces were all reworked, but speed up production overall and, in the long run, with better quality.
That evening I related all to Eleanor.
She had a grin as she listened.
"What's so funny?"
"They knew the answers before you got there. You have been played, my dear."
After my small flare of anger, I had to laugh a little.
"And well played at that!"
"Of course, this means I will have to go to London sooner than later to find ways to make more silver."
"Oh, a shopping trip, I will love it!"
In my many years of marriage, I had learned when to keep my mouth shut.
One product that I knew would make money for us was optics. First, reading stones, then eyeglasses, and finally, telescopes.