“You judge me most severely.” The Earl finally let her go and stepped back, scanning the homes and the people again, though his expression had softened. “I confess I did not know about the dressmaker.”
“When people are injured,” she said, “they may not be able to continue in their old trades, but they can learn to do something else. Another one of your tenants is a woman who has always wanted to learn to be a seamstress, but no one would take her on. I’ve arranged for the blind dressmaker to teach her that craft. She will now have the skills to help support her family.”
“You cannot save them all, Miss Hamilton,” he said.
“No, I can’t. But I can make a difference in the lives ofthesepeople.” She pointed to the cottiers but looked at him. “And so canyou. There’s more toreallife than parties and other mindless activities to distract you because you’re bored stupid with your life.”
“Bored stupid?” His brows knit in a way she was quickly becoming familiar with.
“Miss Clarisse!” Walter strode over. He bowed to the Earl but said to her, “I have people and tools. Where would you have us go to work first?”
“We need to provide these people with a better sewage system. This way.” She headed toward the back of the cottages, surprised that the Earl came too. “They need to have places to take care of their business,awayfrom their homes. Human waste is the worst for spreading diseases like cholera and typhoid. A latrine is a good option, but they fill up eventually and new ones must be dug. I wrote Nellie about it after the first visit here.”
“I believe I am here to help with that, miss.” An old man in a simple suit and a bowler hat approached. “I will take it from here.”
“May I ask what your credentials are, sir?” Reese asked.
“I was an engineer in my day.” The little man pulled out a card from his pocket.
The Earl looked over her shoulder and gave a grunt of approval. “You worked under Wellington?”
“Yes, my lord, in my youth. I learned my trade there, if you will. Made a good career of it after the war and retired two years ago.”
“You won’t be digging, surely,” the Earl said.
“No, my lord. That is what Aunt Nellie’s lads will be doing.”
Reese laughed. “He’ll be directing traffic. Very good then.” Without thinking about it, she took the Earl’s arm. “We can leave him to do this. It’s important for that cesspool to be filled. Would you oversee that while I check on some of the people?” She realized then that she was holding his arm and blinked. When she tried to pull back her hand, he covered it with his own.
“You are a most unusual woman, Miss Hamilton.” Once again, he gave her that intense look. Then he scanned the homes. “If you have been working here for a few days, I cannot imagine what it must have looked like when you first saw it.”
“The misery in the people was horrible to see.” Reese pulled him with her to the front of a little cottage. “Look at them now.”
“What do you see?” he asked, his voice soft.
“Hope, my lord.” She looked up and met his gaze. “We have given them hope.”
The Earl glanced down at her with another of his intense gazes, and she wondered what he really thought of all this. Then he released her and bowed. “As you have requested, I will oversee the work on that disgusting ditch.”
“We’ve brought washing buckets and harsh soap. Remind everyone that they must not touch anything after working there until they have washed thoroughly and to avoid touching their faces, especially their mouths.”
He raised quizzical brows at her, waiting for an explanation.
“To keep them from getting sick,” she explained.
The Earl nodded and strode toward the group of workers.
***
Jem rode with the other Twickenham workers, dressed in heavy work clothes and boots. They didn’t fit as well as the ones made specifically for him. He hoped he didn’t end up with blisters.
He’d used some of the bootblack Geoffrey used on Jem’s shoes to darken his hair and his eyebrows. A few smudges on his cheeks and a wide-brimmed hat completed the change. He doubted anyone would recognize him.
Jem had worked so long on his accent that he’d been dreaming about it. That shouldn’t give him away, as long as his fellow laborers didn’t use words he should know but didn’t.
Around him, the other servants chatted. One man complained about having to work for the tenants.
“Now don’t you go begrudging those little ones a chance to have some food in their poor bellies and a better place to live,” a woman said. “I never in my life saw anything so horrible as when we got there the first day.” She sniffed and wiped her eyes.
