Georgie took her time bathing and then selecting a gown for the evening.
By the time she entered the drawing room, Frits and Turley were already there. “Where is Adeline? She is not overtired, is she?”
Turley handed Georgie a glass of claret. “No. There was a problem she had to see to. I expect—ah, here she is.” He bowed. “I hope everything is now in order.”
“It is.” Adeline smiled as she accepted a goblet of wine from her husband. “A question arose with one of the maids in training.”
“In training?” He appeared confused.
“Yes.” Georgie took pleasure in knowing something about Littlewood that he did not. “You are aware of all the follies?”
His blond brows drew together making his expression serious, and she could imagine him giving that look to a child with the same light blue eyes and blond curls. “I am.”
“They are being used to train maids and footmen.” She did not even try to hold in her grin as his brows shot up to his hair.
“How interesting. How often do they have to attend to the follies?”
“Every day from what I have seen.” Georgie raised a brow as if to challenge any complaint he might make.
“That is an excellent idea.” He turned from her to their friends. “I assume you help to place them after their training is completed.”
“We do,” Frits said. “We work closely with an employment agency that my family has used for years now.”
“Considering how difficult it is for young men and women in the country to find reliable and appropriate employment, I might just have to find a way to institute a program at Rivercrest.”
So Rivercrest was where Turley lived when not in Town. “You have never told me about your estates. Other than to say there were several of them.”
“Have I not?” He studied Georgie for a moment. “I suppose it’s because my sister told me how gentlemen drone on and on about them. What would you like to know?”
Well, that gave her a carte blanche.
“My ladies, my lords.” Creswell bowed. “Dinner is served.”
Turley held his arm out to her. “You may ask anything you like.”
She placed her hand on his arm, and in an attempt not to focus on the feelings touching him gave her actually paid attention to its strength. “Do you do some of the physical work? My father and brother do.”
“Yes, when I’m needed.” He started to amble in the direction of the small dining room. “All my tenants know they can call on me.”
“Did your father do the same?” Suddenly his face shuttered. What had happened? Was it her mention of his father? Oh, drat! It was. How could she have forgotten what his father had done when his mother had died?
Thankfully, he seemed to force the memory or reaction away. “When I was younger he did. However, in his later years he was not himself.”
She had to keep in mind his family problems as she delved into what she wished to know. After all, she did not want him to refuse to answer her questions. “But you followed the example and do the same.”
“I do.” His arm, which had become as hard as steel, relaxed. “It gives me a great deal of pleasure and a sense of accomplishment to work with my tenants.”
“I understand that.” She gave his arm a squeeze, and he smiled at her. “When we are home or on another of my family’s estates, my mother and I always make baskets and visit the tenants. It is good to know how they are doing and be able to help if we are can.”
“Who takes care of them when you are not there?”
“All my father’s stewards are married.” She reviewed what she knew about them. “I believe it is a requirement.”
“The steward’s wife makes the visits when your mother is not present.”
“Yes,” she said, confirming his statement. “Then when my mother visits, the steward’s wife goes over the list with her.” It had not occurred to her before how important that was to the estate and how it ran.
The corners of his lips twitched as he gazed down at her, making her heart flutter. “I’m learning a great deal this evening.”
