<div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/7/74/Marguerite_Tuerny_14.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Marguerite Tuerny<br/><strong>Date:</strong>May 4, 1876<br/><strong>Time of Day:</strong>Morning<br/><strong>Location:</strong>The Courthouse: Judge Warwick's office<br/><strong>Tagged:</strong>Judge Warwick, Closed<br/><hr/>She noticed his frown and chided herself.  As a married woman, she could have accepted the handshake more graciously.  But the last time she'd been in civilized society she had been unmarried and her manners were still locked into those of a maiden.  She couldn't afford to alienate men like the Judge, and affecting manners from back east was a good way to lose friends.  But... well, should she try to re-civilize her life, or bow to graceless depravity and embrace the rather loose standards of the west?<br/><br/>The judge was speaking, and she barely refocused her attention in time to catch his question.<strong>"My husband?"</strong>She considered.<strong>"He is... detained in Deseret.  Indefinitely detained."</strong>She sighed. When she had the resources, she vowed to do something for Breed.  Or at least check to see if he was still alive.  The Pinkerton Agency?  She would have to think about that.  Seriously.<br/><br/>But that was for the future.  Presently, she had best focus on her own affairs.<strong>"Hellstromme?"</strong>She knew the name, but for the life of her she could not remember from where.  Something regarding her father's estate no doubt.<strong>"A loan?"</strong>A much more pressing issue!<strong>"How much, and when is it due?  And did Alfred actually hire anyone with the money?" </strong><br/><br/>She considered his final question.<strong>"My intentions?"</strong>A fine question, a fine question indeed.<strong>"Before my parents died.  I lived in perhaps the finest house in Baltimore, certainly among the finest.  I wanted for nothing and cared for little beyond the next event on the social calendar."</strong>She couldn't believe what a shallow little thing she had been, back then.<strong>"Over the next year I saw my father's estate disappear.  Saw it evaporate under my eyes, prey to lawsuits and claims of judgement and eroded by legal fees spent to retain the diminishing assets until I lost not only father's business, but the house, my mother's jewels, and even my wardrobe.  The last thing I have left is this mining claim.  And I suspect I have that only because none of the vultures back east thought it was worth the paper it is written on."</strong><br/><br/>She looked the judge in the eye, her resolve firming as her voice lost its calm soothing flow and hardened.<strong>"I intend sir, to prove that claim and to regain at least a portion of what I lost. I intend to prove those scavengers wrong and to show them that I am my father's daughter.  He created wealth from nothing. He left me with... perhaps not a great deal, but not nothing.  I want make something of his legacy and to make something of myself."</strong><br/><br/>She clamped her mouth shut and stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, horror at her outburst apparent on her pale features.<strong>"Please excuse my outburst." </strong>Her voice returned to its normally soothing flow.  "<strong>And no matter what ill fortune follows this mine, I can survive it.  I have overcome quite a bit of hardship already."</strong>