She supplied him with several instances of neglect, and a few clever suggestions, and he looked at her in admiration which was only partly assumed.
“What an administrator you would have made!” he exclaimed. “The place would thrive in your hands and everybody be content. It’s obvious, quite apart from his good qualities, why George was so popular.”
Millicent did not suspect him of an intent to flatter her, and she recognized that there was truth in what he said. She knew everybody on the estate and knew their most pressing needs, and she undoubtedly possessed the power of management. She had a keen discernment and could arrive at a quick and just decision.
“Clarence,” she said, “I shouldn’t advise you to take the business altogether out of Grierson’s hands. He’s honest, so far as you are concerned, and one or two of the hardest things he did were by your orders.”
“You mean the Milburn and Grainger affair?” He showed a little embarrassment. “Well, perhaps I was hasty then, but they would have exasperated a much more patient man. I sometimes feel that I can’t please these people, whatever I do.”
She smiled at this.
“They’re not effusive, but they’re loyal once you win their confidence. But, to go back to Grierson—let him collect payments and handle the money, but don’t ask his advice as to how you will lay it out. Look around, inquire into things, and trust your own judgment.”
He turned to her beseechingly.
“I can’t trust it in these matters—it hasn’t been cultivated. If I’m to keep out of further trouble and do any good, you must help me.”
Millicent hesitated. It was not a little thing he asked. To guide him aright would need thought and patient investigation. Still, there was, as she had said, so much to be done—abuses to be abolished, houses to be made habitable, burdens to be lifted from shoulders unable to carry them. There was also land the yield from which could be increased by a very moderate expenditure. She would enjoy the power to do these things which the man’s demand for help offered her, but she was more stirred by his desire to redeem past neglect and set right his failures.