Ruth didn't smile that time, she merely nodded and then looked down at the baby as he slept. Then she reached in and touched a finger ever so lightly to one of his chubby cheeks. He seemed to instinctively move his mouth as if suckling, and then gave a sigh and was as quiet as a church mouse. Ruth then stood and then said, "I will do me work now and I'll come check on Jacob soon. He's been eatin' more so he might fuss sooner than his normal time. I think he's growin' right now."

"Alright dear, I'll keep an eye on him just as always." Eleanor flashed a smile as Ruth was turned loose into the manor, passing by Betsy on her way out of the kitchen. The young woman pauses to chat but Eleanor catches sight of her and hollers after her and she has to go after a quick greeting.

She smiled slightly at her friend in greeting, but it seemed that both of them were in need of getting to work. When she was alone again, she got to work on whatever it was that needed doing. Several hours later, after she'd fed and diapered her child, she was back at cleaning, but she had already finished all the work she had been given for the day. Floors were gleaming, stuff was dusted, and she was feeling particularly gross when she was done. When she took note of the time, she knew she had enough to where she could draw herself a bath and change into something else for supper.

If her chores were finished all she needed to do was ask Mister Lane for permission to end her day a bit earlier. Which the butler would be happy to grant. If there was one trait that could be attributed to all the staff at Blackwood Manor it would be kindness and it was that way by design. So she would have more than an hour to prepare for her second dinner with Edward Blackwood who was, at present, back in his study scribbling away on a new design.

She did go and ask for permission of course before going to take a bath. She changed into a blouse and black skirt, nothing special, and put her hair into a bun. Then she was off to meet for supper.

Ruth would find Edward in his study where a quick glance reveals that he was, evidently, working on clocks now. He had various books about them pulled out and was absently scribbling out the schematics for some clockwork onto his chalkboards. He didn't even look up when she entered as he seemed to be entirely focused on whatever task it was that he had at hand.

Her eyes widened at the sight of all of the clocks and she, having stopped in the kitchen to get the food, moved to set the food down on the table. She said, "Mister Blackwood, why don't ye come eat? Ye can tell me about yer clocks while we eat." She smiled and gestured toward the table.

"Hrmmm?" Edward looked away from his chalkboard when Ruth spoke up and he blinked, frowned and then. "Ah, yes, you said you wanted to have supper with me today... right? Or was that yesterday?" He frowned, his brain still swimming in a miasmic fog of despair that made time hard to comprehend.

"Today, sir," she said. "Ye can tell me anythin' ye want about those clocks if ye want, it looks absolutely fascinatin'. But the food smells good today," she went on to say.

"Hrmm, yes, they are interesting. A set of gears, each connected working in stages to spin the three hands all on the same mechanism but each representing a different increment of time. But they aren't an actual measure of time, rather just a means by which we can track what we've arbitrarily decided is a second. Which is interesting to me, time is a phenomenon whose effects we can observe but we cannot truly examine ourselves... Yet."

The man rambled absently as he gestured about at the various diagrams he was drawing.