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“Honestly, Alfred, if you do not find yourself a new pair of glasses soon, I shall have to go into town myself and have them made for you. And you certainly would not want that, as I would find you the most delightfully feminine ones that the maker could create,” she said light-heartedly.
Robert was happy to see Anne joking with someone else, but it did make him feel a little sad. Her easy nature seemed to be coming out around this gentleman as well, which meant that her ability to relax around Robert was not unusual.
Oh well. Anne is off-limits regardless, as she is an employee of the household. And while my father may think that I’m quite the irresponsible young gallivant, I know that I am far better than that. I know my place in the world because he has constantly reminded me of it.
But when Robert witnessed Alfred’s reaction to Anne, he was quite taken aback. The older gentleman immediately stopped scowling, pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, and then beamed at her.
“Annie, why on earth do I continuously think that you are Veruca? Why can I not see that it is so obviously you?” Alfred asked, barely taking notice of Robert.
“For the reason that I have just stated, Alfred. You have a guest, by the way,” Anne replied, gesturing towards Robert.
“Good morning, Mr Buxton,” he greeted him warmly, half expecting the gentleman to continue talking to him as he had been speaking with Anne. “We have not been introduced yet, and so I thought that it would be a good idea to …”
“You’re the new property manager, aren’t you?” Alfred practically growled. Robert was silenced immediately and wanted to disappear into the floor. “What makes you think that you could come in here and take my job out from under me, hmm? Are you not aware that I am the leader of this household and have been for nearly a decade?”
Robert’s eyes widened. “Mr. Buxton, I would never... I am certainly not here to... I never thought that I...”
He knew that he was floundering and badly. He tried desperately to think of something that he could say to assure Alfred that he was not here to steal his job, but his mind was sadly blank.
But right when he thought he was about to be laid into by this butler, Anne swept in and rescued him.
“Alfred, Mr Austen is not here to steal your job,” Anne said realistically. “Lord George likely hired him because he realized that he needed someone to be able to travel freely between our estate and the others in London. You cannot do this because you have to be here to take care of everything else. Or would you rather Lord George made your list of duties even longer and asked you to travel to the other properties in addition to working here?”
Robert looked gratefully back at Anne, who did not meet his eye but seemed to understand how much she had helped him. When he turned around again to look at Alfred, the older gentleman looked dumbfounded.
“I... I hadn’t thought of that,” he stammered. He was silent for another moment, considering what Anne had told him, and then he began nodding. “That was an excellent move on Lord George’s part, hiring you. I cannot believe that he could be so considerate, and yet at the same time, I can.”
Robert nodded along with Alfred. “His Lordship is nothing if not incredibly thoughtful; I agree with you. Mr Buxton, Miss Watkins is absolutely right; I am not here to step on your toes or try to take over your duties. It is exactly as she said; I am here to try and alleviate some of the stress from you so that the household, as well as the other properties, might work more seamlessly. Part of my reason for coming down here this morning was to ensure that there weren’t things that I had assumed I would be doing that you were already handling.”
“For example,” Robert continued, suddenly finding his stride as Alfred came and sat with them, “I know that traditionally, the property manager might be in charge of the staff. However, I do not feel that I would be the best person to do that, and I know that you already have a decade’s experience managing this household’s excellent staff. And so, I wondered if you might consider continuing to manage the staff if I were to take over keeping the accounts. Would that take some of the workload off your plate?”
Now, Alfred looked positively delighted. “I do believe that would, thank you Mr Austen. I am happy to continue managing the staff, as that is one of my greatest pleasures of this job. I do not usually enjoy keeping the accounts anyway, and so I would be quite relieved to have you take that over.”
Robert was very pleased with how this conversation was going, except he realized that when he gave the task of managing the household staff to Alfred, he wouldn’t be in charge of Anne. Not that he really wanted to; he only wanted that as an excuse to spend more time with her. As he saw his window of opportunity rapidly closing, Robert had a sudden brilliant idea that he blurted out.
“Except for Miss Watkins here,” he said. Both Alfred and Anne looked at him with confused expressions, and so he hurried to explain himself. “As she is in charge of the children’s education, Lord George has asked that I be in charge of managing her duties. I have a wealth of experience with teaching and education, and so that is why Lord George specifically requested I be in charge of her... I mean, managing the children’s education.”
Robert continued to try and look confident in what he was saying, but the more Alfred and Anne stared at him, the more he began to doubt that was a good idea. However, Alfred began slowly nodding, and when Anne did not seem put off by this development, Robert ceased panicking. He looked back and forth between Alfred and Anne to make sure they were both being serious, and when he was satisfied that they were, he could hardly believe it.
“Certainly,” Anne said understandingly. “I believe that the children’s education is one of the most important aspects of my position. If Lord George thinks that you would be helpful in guiding me in that regard, then I would only be so happy to obey his wish.”
Robert was thrilled by this answer. It had been such a hasty addition to the conversation that he thought for sure he would be caught by it. Judging by the look on Alfred’s face, he was just about to mirror Anne’s sentiments.
“I would have to agree with you, Anne. If that is what Lord George wishes, and you have a wealth of experience in that regard, then it is our pleasure to obey him.”
Robert felt so happy that his silly plan had worked that he could have jumped up and down with excitement. But of course, he did not. He simply smiled and said, “I am very glad that is agreeable to you both. Perhaps after Mr Buxton and I are finished meeting about the division of our roles, we might get together and discuss education ourselves?”
Anne nodded happily and excused herself so that he and Alfred could finish their meeting. Robert was glad that his first introduction to the butler had gone smoothly, but he could hardly pay attention to what he was saying in anticipation of having another chance to speak with Miss Watkins.
