"Not anymore," Rose said proudly. The house was a lot neater since her arrival. There was a butler as well, and he had been there before, but Rose wasn't sure what the point of him was. "And at least there's no children, so it's not too hard to keep tidy... although his furniture breaks a lot..." she suddenly realized with a frown.

Elijah nodded with a broad smile. "You are one of the hardest workers I know, if anyone could get his house into shape, it's you."

He looked at her in surprise. "Really? Is it different every time or the same pieces? I can't imagine he is being so rough on it. So either he is getting very cheap and poorly made furniture..." which didn't seem to match what he had seen in his home. " Or whoever he is hiring to fix it is cheating him and doing a bad job so they have to come back. I had thought he was too smart for such things though..."

Rose blushed with pride. Hard work had always been valued in her home. Even when her official chores were done, mother had taught her to pick up some needlework or knitting, to avoid being idle - although Rose had hated it. Rose frowned however at Elijah's suggestion. Claude's family always needed money (it seemed to leave the household as fast as it came), and Claude used to hang out with Simon and they had done some mischief when they were younger. But Claude knew what he was doing and he was no cheat. At least, she didn't want to think of him as one. "It's probably poorly made..." Had Rose had any formal training, she would know not to talk about what went on in her master's house. But Rose was just a simple fisherman's daughter who loved gossip.

Elijah shrugged. "I will speak to him later. He should really replace it with better made then, it'll save him money in the end. If it does still keep breaking, maybe the fellow fixing it just isn't very good at it." He looked to her and introduced a change in topic. "Are you to clean after your shopping?"

"Oh please don't!" she said, alarmed. "It's Claude! Claude Longbottom! He knows what he's doin'! His parents might be bad people, but he's good! He wouldn't cheat Mr. Meijer, or anyone for that matter." Rose hadn't intended to get Claude in trouble and she was desperate to set it right.

Elijah rose a brow. He knew of Claude but not very well. He shrugged. "There is nothing to worry about, Rose. I believe you. But it isn't fair for Mr. Meijer to be wasting money when replacing the furniture would save him in the long run." Her defensiveness made him more concerned and he thought he needed to give the man a visit some time.

Rose nodded. "Just don't get Claude in trouble, please. He's a good person." And kind. And good looking. And he had been close friends with Simon. And he was gentle. And good looking. And responsible. And good looking. Rose snapped out of a short daydream. "Oh, and I'll be preparing dinner for Mr. Meijer when I get back. Why?"

He looked slightly hurt. "Do you think I would arrest an innocent man, Rose ? If things look suspicious I would just keep an eye on him to figure out what's going on. I like to think I am very understanding to misleading circumstances."

He shrugged. " I thought about dropping by the house and visiting Ben. I think I spend too much time alone sometimes."

Rose smiled at him. "You know father is always happy to see you. You should. And I like to think there's someone keeping an eye out now that I'm gone." She lifted the basket higher on her hip.

Elijah looked cheered by the thought. "Your dad is a good man and I feel I should visit more often as long as I don't take him from his work. Plus I like to make sure your siblings are doing well too. Everyone is growing up so fast."