“That was something I learned early on. My father was adamant that she be kept happy.”
They had reached the gate into the Park, causing Lord Littleton to have to pay more attention to the traffic, thus giving her an opportunity to consider what he’d said. It was yet another thing that did not fit her perception of rakes. Still, after what Dorie had said, Adeline could not be wrong about him, even if he did not drink to excess. What her sister-in-law said about different kinds of rakes made more sense.
They nodded to people they knew, and she noticed the utterly lascivious looks he received from some of the matrons and widows, but he did not seem to take note of their interest at all. In fact, when he looked at her, she had the same feeling she’d had before. As if she was the center of his attention.
Adeline had to think of something to say. Thus far, she was acting like she had more hair than wit. “Where is your estate?”
“My main estate is in Surrey, but I have several others throughout the country.” They had slowed to a crawl, and he gave her a quizzical look. “One is in Cornwall. My gardener has convinced me to try to grow pineapples.”
Perhaps he would know more about the area than Lord Anglesey had. “I heard that tropical plants can grow there.”
“Yes, they can.” He grinned. “But unless you wish to hear about sheltering berms and tree hedges and other such things, you will have to take my word for it that it can be done.”
Against her will, Adeline was becoming interested in him. “Do you spend much time in Town?”
“Only the main Season.” He had a rueful look on his handsome face. “I probably should not admit that I prefer the country. We are constantly making improvements, and I would rather be there when we try new ideas.”
“Such as?” Lord help her. She should not encourage him. She should greet other people she knew and converse with him enough to be polite. But she liked farming and innovations.
“Well”—he seemed to settle back against the cushions, which were actually quite comfortable—“I have one herd of pigs that dine on chestnuts toward the end of the season.”
That was odd. “I have never heard of such a thing. What does it matter what they eat?”
“It all started when one of my tenant’s daughters made a pet of a piglet. The main problem was, it wasn’t their piglet. She had walked home from school with another tenant’s daughter and the pig had given birth several days before.” Lord Littleton’s green eyes sparkled with mirth. “From all accounts, she held one of the piglets and began visiting it every day after school”—Adeline wanted to ask him about the school, but that would have to wait—“then one day the piglet followed her home.”
“Oh, dear.” Despite herself she felt her lips twitch.
“Indeed.” He gave her a forlorn look. “Fortunately, the owner was more amused than upset. The problem came when it happened a second day. The girl was only seven, and she did not understand why the piglet couldn’t be her pet.” The put upon sigh he heaved made it harder not to smile. “There was apparently a great deal of crying and clinging to the animal, and I happened to be making visits and heard the contretemps.” This time the lost look he had was one she had seen on both her father and brother’s faces when their wives were weeping. “I bought the pig and gave it to the little girl with the provision that any of the piglet’s progeny would belong to the estate. I also agreed to pay for feeding it and building a pen.”
Adeline covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile. “That was kind of you.”
“It was the only thing I could think of.” He moved the carriage along. “Not long after that, a friend returned from his Grand Tour and told me about a ham he’d had in Italy. What made it so special was that the pigs dined on chestnuts for a few months before they were slaughtered. I just happen to have a chestnut grove only a mile or so from the tenant’s farm, so after her first fare was born, raised, and about ready, we let them loose in the grove.” He beamed. “The results were amazing.” He glanced at her and then frowned. “You probably didn’t want to hear all that.”
The problem was that she had wanted to hear it and wanted to know more. But what would happen if it got out that she enjoyed discussing farm animals? Would he tell other gentlemen? She could not risk telling him the truth. “It was a very enjoyable story.”
“Thank you.” His black brows came together.
“It is a pity that not all landowners can be so inventive.” That was the truth, without telling him her secret about her love for farms and agriculture.
“That’s what I think. So many peers and other gentlemen complain about not being able to wring more money out of their estates, but I believe that if you invest in them and try to be innovative, you will be rewarded.”
“I think you are correct. My father says much the same thing.” She found herself warming even more to Lord Littleton.
Adeline did not understand. It was a well-known fact that rakes engaged in brandy early in the day, gambled to excess—or until their fathers put an end to such foolishness, as her father had with her brother—and were dangerous to all ladies. But Lord Littleton was concerned about his holdings, land, and tenants; helped a little girl keep a pig; grew pineapples; and did not normally drink during the day.
And there was the school. She needed to hear more about it. Her mother had attempted to start a dame school, and it had met with little success. “You said you have a school for your tenants’ children. How did that come about?”
“Not easily.” She laughed at the face he pulled. “My grandmother tried to start one in the last century and failed. Then my mother tried and heard the same objections about schooling not being any use for children. But I had the idea of paying every tenant who sent their children to school an amount sufficient to make it worthwhile for them to delay the children’s chores.
“The distance is not far in country terms, but it is interesting the excuses that arise when a child has to get to the school on their own. So I started sending a wagon around to pick up the children each morning, and when the master’s wagon arrives, a child gets in it.”
“What an excellent idea.” Adeline could not hold back her approval. And it would not have been fair for her to do so. “I shall tell my mother what you did.”
“Lady Adeline.” Lord Anglesey, sitting a bay horse, sidled the animal next to her and inclined his head. “How are you enjoying the Promenade?”
She had not even noticed the other people around them. “It has been lovely.” She glanced at Lord Littleton, whose face had closed. Most gentlemen appeared to know one another, but either Littleton and Anglesey had never met or they did not like each other. “Do you know Lord Littleton?”
Lord Anglesey’s smile tightened, as if he did not wish to know him. “No, I have not had the pleasure.”
