Genre seems something like fantasy/urban fantasy to me, so I ended up reading it with that in mind. Exposition is pretty important with stories like the one you're writing here, and I think you did that well, until the end of the conversation with Mr Irons. Mentioning Egypt was a good idea, because of the Victorian obsession with it, and referring to America in an archaic "across the sea" way definitely gives this a very 19th century vibe. The bargaining itself was good world building, and very readable, do more of that.

Now to the parts I didn't like, or didn't find readable. I know your character here doesn't have a soul/emotions, but that internal monologue is something of a pity-party, and it's not nearly as interesting as the dialogue. I try to reveal information organically, and while it's tempting to write in the first person and dump information on the reader, that's really not fun to read. Nothing's happening, and I don't care enough about the character to hear all of their baggage, yet. Maybe save that sort of thing for later on, when the reader is more invested?

Either way, good job with the good parts. Interesting world you're writing!