Deleted Scenes

#1
December 20th. 1864. Washington D.C.
Extract from President Abraham Lincoln's speech to congress following the decisive victory over the Confederacy at the Battle of Nashville.

President Lincoln: Many of you will have heard that the Navy now has several battleships capable of flying long distances in the Auxiliary Aeronautical Fleet.
This is true.
We could now bring whole armies, fully equipped, to a battlefield of our choosing.
We can rain down fire from above well out of the range of enemy cannon or rifle fire.
We could destroy cities and strongholds with impunity.
It has been decided that this is something we, the American people, will not do.
The South has suffered another severe defeat at Nashville.
I believe this war is almost over.
The time is coming very soon now when brother will not make war upon brother.
Peace will once more rule this fair land of ours.
When that time comes we will build a new nation, a strong nation, a united nation.
It will be a nation of free men who will be at liberty to walk beneath the stars.
Where a man can look to the heavens without fear.

#2
'Mrs Janet Barch?'

'Yes that's me, what do you want here, I have to get to class. The young ladies are waiting'

'Mizz Barch you may recall the rains on Friday last caused a landslide on the road bordering your property? Well it turns out two dead bodies were uncovered by the slide. I contacted Detective Gault here from Baltimore Police to come out and take a look at them. One of them, the man, was carrying a pocket watch which held an inscription inside the cover. We showed the watch and a signet ring he was wearing to Mr. Jeffrey Barch, a saloon keeper here in town who I believe is your brother-in-law?'

Barch nodded, looking uncomfortable.

'Now Jeffrey he told us the watch and the ring and the suit we found on the body all belonged to his brother Tom, your husband. He didn't know the woman for sure but from her clothes reckoned she was one of the dancers at his saloon who disappeared round the same time as your husband, he reckoned she'd a run off with him. Now there's a coupla things bothering us Mizz Barch. First there was the bullet hole in each of their heads right here.' the Sheriff said, tapping his forehead. 'Second of all you told your brother-in-law Jeffrey that you'd had a letter from Tom saying he was in San Francisco and a wouldn't be comin back. Your a teacher Mizz Barch, maybe you can a educate us on a how he coulda wrote that letter when he was a layin dead up by the road there?'

#3
'Miss Hecuba, may I present his excellency, Sir Edward Thornton, Envoy of Her Imperial Majesty, Queen Victoria, to the United States of America. Sir Edward, Miss Andrea Hecuba, of Baltimore, Maryland.'

'Miss Hecuba, it's truly delightful to make your acquaintance. May I welcome you to our little get together. Please allow me to escort you into the ballroom, there are so many people who are anxious to meet you.' Offering her his arm the suave, middle aged man with impressive dundrearies led her on a tour of the room, his little 'get together' being a grand ball with several hundred in attendance. She was introduced to various officials, British nobility and their ladies and even a Duke, who insisted she must dance with him later.
Andrea smiled and nodded, imitating an old school friend of hers who appeared to have nothing in her head but goose down and chocolate and could smile all day and talk about nothing at all, endlessly.
Several people attempted to arrange liaisons with her or offered invitations to other 'events' they were planning that she mustattend.
Andrea always politely insisted that she must check with her Grandmama before accepting any invitations, letting them believe she had no control or even the ability to control her own life.
She'd been playing this game for a while now, especially since her father's death. Every major power in the world including the Tzar of Russia and the Emperor of Japan suddenly had an urgent need to get to know her. That little Italian popinjay from the court of Victor Emmanuel had even proposed marriage to her!
Sadly it wasn't her they were interested in, but her father's research into flying machines, ruled as a State Secret by an act of Congress. It was fun for Andrea though, who'd never been considered pretty or popular, who was tomboyish as a youngster, to be wined and dined by all the bigwigs in Washington like a princess. She never gave them anything and led them all to believe she wasn't capable of understanding anything more complicated than a cross stitch.
She knew half the servants at the hotels and ballrooms during these events were agents from the State Department watching her like so many hawks so she was always careful, never letting herself be caught alone.
She did enjoy the waltzes, polkas and two-steps, even though she was never dancing with the man she wanted. Perhaps one day the world would turn on its head and she and Michael could welcome quests to their own cotillion. Perhaps... one day...

#4
'We're not ready, are we?'
'Not by a long way! But we couldn't tell him the truth.'
'Are you sure?'
'Yes. If we told him the truth he'd insist on telling Congress the truth and that would be very bad. You know he won't deliberately lie to the people.
Besides, that speech was just as effective as dropping bombs on Richmond. Lee will have a copy of it by this time tomorrow and he'll believe it, this war will be over soon and then we will have time to get everything working right, all we need is time, after all, Hecuba's own yacht flies like a swan and we have him working night and day to fix the design of the battleships.'
'It's killing him, he doesn't want to build war ships.'
'He doesn't have a choice.'