"Of course, they could not talk about anti Catholic bigotry in the show" Wendy said "It would conflict with the idealized view of the Founding Fathers, and they were not making cutting edge social commentary. For the same reason they made Tom Harris to be white, and to be doubly sure, cut out his courtship of the governess. No danger of miscegenation in THEIR show"

"But of course, the truth is always more complicated, isn't it? And because they could not show the anti-Catholic sentiment, they had to do an anachronistic witch hunting plot"

"And the physically impossible travel back in time, body and all, instead of just recovering past life memories." Wendy sighed. "It is amazing how they get some things right, and they go off in wild tangents…. Well, let Amos tell us of what happened then."

Amos sighed. "Uncle Jacob was furious. He had McGregor arrested for trespassing and mischief making. He came very close to ordering Aunt Ruthless out of the house, but mother talked him out of it, because of the scandal it would give. My mother was one of the few people who could make Uncle Jacob see reason, and she had a kind heart, so she would not see Auntie out in the streets. How Auntie repaid her…. Aunt Ruthless was incapable of gratitude. She just followed what she saw as her duty."

In any case, life seemed to get back to normal. Annelise calmed down and seemed to settle into her new life. But I had seen through her mask and saw her bewilderment and fear. I befriended her, more out of compassion than anything else, but in our talks, we found we had much in common. She was smart and compassionate. She was born in France, but when her father died insolvent, she had to move in with the Martinique relatives, who saw her value in the marriage market. She said that she felt like a slave, but a well-treated one, unlike the wretches in the field. She had tried to help them, but her efforts were just a drop in the bucket…Well, we did grow closer."

"I can see what it led to" Lester sighed. "It is an old story."

"Yes. In the meantime, Andrew and Susannah returned and Uncle Jacob welcomed them. I was surprised to see Jacob react so well, but I was happy for my friend…. Which shows that I did not judge people very well. Jacob had taken the measure of Andrew very quickly, and between threats and promises, got him to agree to sabotage our sugar maple enterprise. The planters did not want competition in what they saw a lucrative American market. If the ideas of Hamilton to make America self-sufficient and not dependent on imports ever took root it would be a disaster for many… Maureen overhead it and Jacob lost no time telling her how he could wreck her life if she did not hold her tongue… It would be child's play to hide a valuable in her belongings and accuse her of theft. Maureen did know how easy it was, so she never told a soul…. Not till later when Jacob could not hurt her. And so it was that the sugar business which promised so much began to have problems. Broken machinery, lost shipments, vital correspondence never receiver nor answered. It was a death of a thousand cuts."

"And you never suspected?"

"I was that naïve. And then I was distracted between my closeness to Annelise. I was falling in love and did not know it. And Liseli was getting more demanding, more strident. And sometimes her words had an undertone of menace. Of course, the sorcerer who had allowed her to come to me was pressing for payment – because if she failed to hold me, she would then have to serve him for a long time. And I trusted Andrew."

"The situation was headed for an explosion."

"And Auntie was at the heart of it. She spread rumors about Annelise and me. I was unaware of it until Maureen told me that I should only meet Annelise when there was someone like herself in the room, to testify that nothing untoward was taking place. I was floored. I protested my innocence, and she in her wiser ways, told me that innocence was no defense against calumny if someone wishes you ill – she knew it from bitter experience. She said that we could meet in the children's nursery to discuss the children's education. Me, to check on how Prudence was doing, and Annelise, trying on her responsibility as Isaacs' stepmother. Always very correct, always discussing the children… But that was not enough."

"So how did it happen?"

"Isaac had been punished for cutting up Annelise's dresses and shouting at her. "I do not want you here! You are not my mother! when confronted. After he was punished, Auntie came to him and said that if he told his father that he had seen Annelise and me kissing, Annelise would be gone. And then, because she wanted to make trouble, she told Liseli that I was going to send out the "Indian trash" because I had a new love, Annelise."

"And Liseli did not take it well. And so she cursed you same as in the show. But I take that there were no bats involved."

"No. No bats… worse. I came back to meet her, wondering if I still loved her, and why, and she appeared in a green cloud. She told me that she was fae, and that the insult that my family had given her would be punished. Because SHE WAS NOT TRASH. And that we were so damn proud of being what we were, it was time that our pride was ground in the dust. She then lifted a glass sphere and shattered it in the ground…. And when it broke..."