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"If they didn't know where Merkel's mill is, I'm sure the one called Catrin will find out."

"What's she like?"

"Catrin? She's a pleasant enough youngster, but a bit forward."

"No, not her, the other one. The one you're interested in. What'd you say her name was?"

"Veronika. She's smart, with a sense of humor. Did I tell you how she poked fun at me wanting to make white paper?"

"Just a couple of hundred times. So, is it serious?"

"Who knows? She might not even be interested in marrying me."

Friedrich snorted. "Of course she's interested. You're a journeyman planning to build a mill. I'm surprised all the young women aren't sniffing around."

"Not many know I'm planning on building a mill. So you really think Veronika might be interested in me?"

"Not you, the mill."

Gottfried almost responded by tugging Friedrich's chair further back, but a couple of shapes walking up the path stopped him. "They're here."

Friedrich let his chair fall back on all four legs and shot to his feet. "Well, come on, let's go and meet the fine ladies."

"I hope Catrin takes a shine to you," Gottfried muttered as he got to his feet.

****

Gottfried stood right behind Veronika feeling the warmth of her body as he pointed out the features of the Hollander beater. "The Hollander beater was invented by the Dutch, hence it's name. That heavy roller rotates, dragging the rag between it and the bedplate, shredding the rag into a pulp. It also generates a current so the contents of the beater are properly mixed."

"Is it much of an advantage over the old techniques?"

Gottfried smiled into her upturned face. "You wouldn't believe how much better the Hollander is. Previously we had to hammer the rags into pulp, move the pulp to a mixing vat, and then mix in the sizing agents. The Hollander does it all in one operation."

"And when the beater has done its work you drain the pulp into the headbox?" Veronika asked.

"Yes."

"It's just like the description in the monograph in the library. But where is your Fourdrinier table?"

"That's one up-time innovation we can't get to work. I don't know what the up-timers used, but everyone who has tried to make a proper Fourdrinier table has hit the same problem-the constant flexing of the wire mesh belt around the rollers causes the wires to break. What we've done here is to replace a single mesh belt with a belt made up of regular paper molds."

"What sort of advantage is that over the old way?"

"By mechanically filling the molds we can get consistent paper using unskilled labor, and we're making paper at twice the rate a skilled journeyman could make it the old way."

"But if there's no skill element in papermaking, doesn't that mean you're not needed?"

That was Veronika poking fun at him again. He almost dropped a kiss onto her nose. "I am needed, but mostly just to set everything up, and to keep an eye on the workers."

"You mean you're just a supervisor? I can't think of anything more boring than that."

"That's why I want my own mill."

"But you'll want to use the same machines in your own mill, won't you?"

"I have my own ideas for a better system."

"So you're looking for job satisfaction in producing the system, not the paper?" Veronika asked.

Gottfried stared at her. He hadn't thought of it that way. "Well, yes, I guess so."

"And will you be able to get enough satisfaction out of developing a production system to make up for making newsprint rather than white paper?"

"I hope so. Do you want to see my plans for my mill?"

"Yes, please"

****

"That went rather well," Gottfried said as the young women disappeared down the path.

"She still got you interested?" Friedrich asked.

"Yes, and she seems to be very interested in papermaking."

"Of course she's interested in what you do. How else will she know if it's worth dragging a proposal of marriage out of you or not?"

"Veronika's not like that," Gottfried protested.

"She's a woman. All women are like that.'"

"Well, she's gone a bit further than just being interested in what I do. Veronika seems to have a firm grasp of the concepts. She even had some good ideas on the possible layout of the mill."

"What would a woman know about the layout of a mill?" Friedrich asked.

"She's working towards her GED, and has done some business papers at the Vo Tech in Grantville."

"Book learning," Friedrich muttered.

"Yes, book learning. But her book learning with my practical knowledge . . ."

"So it's got that far?"

Gottfried shook his head. "No, but I'm definitely thinking about it."

June 1633

When the bells in Saalfeld tolled the quarter hour, Gottfried stopped work to search the road. There, as regular as clockwork, was Veronika, walking up the path with her basket slung over her shoulder. He wasn't the only man on the construction crew watching her approach, although he hoped the main interest of the rest of them was for the contents of her basket rather than the person carrying it.

He grabbed the boiled-leather hard hat that had been painted pink especially for Veronika after it became obvious she would be a regular visitor and traded it for the basket she was carrying. While she put on her hat he removed the cloth wrapped bundle with his name on it and left the basket for the men to empty in their own time. "It's a pity you only have ten minutes to look around."

"Why? What is it you want to show me?"

He reached out a hand and tugged her along. "We're ready to do our first full test."

Veronika let herself be dragged along. "You're ready to start making paper?"

"It's just a test run to sort out any problems. We won't be starting production until next week."

"Have you got many orders yet?"

Gottfried froze, causing Veronika to bump into him. "Orders?"

"Yes, orders. You know, contracts from people wanting to buy your paper."

Gottfried knew very well what orders were, but he'd been so involved with building his mill he hadn't had time to think of anything so mundane as building up an order book. "That shouldn't be a problem," he said airily. "Everybody knows I'm going to make newsprint. The printers will be clamoring for it as soon as I start production." He added a smile to suggest he was sure that such would be the case.

"Aren't you being just a shade overly hopeful?" Veronika asked.

So she wasn't buying it. Well, when a man had his back to the wall, he had to come out fighting. "How would you go about getting orders?" Gottfried was happy to see that silenced her. "It's different when you have to come up with a plan, isn't it?" He got a glare for that sally, and he could almost see the wheels turning as she thought about the problem he'd set.

"An open day! That's what we need. We invite the potential customers to the mill to inspect everything. You can show them some paper being made and answer all their questions, and when they leave, we give them a free sample that they can take home and test."

"Free sample?" Gottfried had been in full agreement with her idea right up to the point where she used that foul four-letter word. "Do you have any idea how much paper costs to make?"

"Stop thinking about how much it'll cost, and start thinking about how much business it'll create. If you tried to sell them samples, maybe a few would buy them, but if you give everyone a quire of paper, not only will they all have a sample, but they'll probably all try it out. And they'll talk about it amongst themselves . . ."

Gottfried reached out and silenced her in the age-old method. He firmly expected to be met by outrage, or at least have his shins kicked, but Veronika surprised him.

It was the bells of Saalfeld tolling the quarter hour that broke up the kiss. Gottfried's delightful armful was suddenly pushing him away.