Page 102 of Ironvine

His lips quirked. “Tired, were you, Countess?”

She choked on her tea.

He let out a laugh. “Should we take the carriage then?”

“No, I’d love to ride.”

They finished eating, and after, they mounted their horses and he led her through the edge of the park to a pathway smoothed with the years.

“Do you visit your tenants often?” she asked.

“Quite regularly when I’m here. Of course, I’ve known them since I was born.”

“Thomas and my mother would only pay their tenants visits on Christmas and Easter for the most part. He’d once told me, “That’s why I have a steward and pay him quite handsomely.”

“I am of the mind that if I show my tenants that I have their welfare in mind, by inquiry and discussion, by offering assistance where I can, they are more likely to be content. It’s a circle, you see. Their satisfaction is mine. Their success is my success. Each adds to the other’s measure, each compounds the other’s.”

She blinked up at him in the glare of the sun. “I very much agree.”

They arrived at the first cottage. Introductions were made. They were invited to sit and drink. She asked the woman questions about her day and her duties, and gave the children sweet biscuits she’d had cook prepare. And they went on to the next house. And the next. And the next family.

She’d taken a paper with her in her reticule to jot down particulars of each family so she wouldn’t forget them.

“I’m most impressed by your note-taking, Countess.”

“It’s my duty to know our tenants, not simply to pretend to take an interest. I don’t like to pretend. And if we are to have a good relationship, I feel it should be genuine.”

He slanted his head. “Most of the young ladies of our acquaintance would not feel so strongly about this responsibility.”

“Certainly my mother never did, except on the holidays when she would give each family a basket of food. She wouldn’t even do that much, really. She would stand there at a distance and smile while a servant would do the handing over. She felt that fulfilled her obligation. It was something, of course, but not enough, in my opinion. Not quite right.”

They spent the longest time at Charles’s steward’s home. His son, Joss, a young man about her brother’s age, greeted them with a big smile and a hearty handshake for Charles, and a bow of his head for Georgina. “Very pleased to meet you, my lady. Very happy for you both.”

“Thank you, Joss,” said Georgina.

This was the Joss who had saved Charles from the castle ruins when they were children.

Charles beamed at him. He and Joss spoke easily. It was obvious they were old friends.

On their way home at last, their horses trod slowly along the path back to the house. “At Fairthorn, I had gotten to know a few of our tenants well,” said Georgina. “One man especially, Mr. Talley, was like a grandfather to me. He would fix my shoes when the strap would break on my long walks to see him, tell me tales as he worked. Mrs. Talley, his wife, would show me how to knead dough and would give me a bun for the walk home. They had no children of their own. They were always so very kind to me.”

“Did your mother know?”

“Oh no. She would not have approved.”

“Our tenants have been without a mistress’s touch for many, many years, Georgina. Your care shall not go unnoticed and will be greatly appreciated, I warrant.”

“I fully intend to visit regularly and help in any way I can.”

A small smile warmed his face, lighting up his eyes, and a flare of warmth ran over her flesh. She had made him happy, perhaps unexpectedly so.

And that pleased her most of all.

ChapterForty-Five

Georgina

“His Gracethe Duke of Oakley and Her Grace the Duchess of Oakley request your presence at a dinner party on—”

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