She was quite pleased that she got him to eat. She kept talking to him about stuff and then would remind him to take a bite every now and then until he was either full or the food was gone. Either way, she'd be taking back an empty plate that wasn't hers, hopefully.

As it transpired keeping him occupied with a conversation to keep him at the table, combined with occasional reminders to eat, was an excellent way to get him to finally finish an entire plate. She never let him get distracted enough by any singular topic that he felt compelled to go do some research, her constant shifting helped to keep him focused on what he knew and when he found there was no food on his plate he actually seemed surprised.

"Well, that was a very pleasant meal Miss Blacke. Thank you for your company."

The man said as he blinked since it had been some time since he'd been in this situation.

She nodded, "I am glad ta have kept ye company, sir." She stood and picked up the plates. Ruth then headed for the kitchen, though she paused and she turned. "Mister Blackwood... I... thank ye fer standin' up fer me..." and then she turned and was gone. Once in the kitchen, she went directly to the sink to deposit empty plates, and then she curled her fingers around the lip of said sink, leaning lightly against it. She didn't feel like sharing her triumph that he ate the whole thing, she would just let the others see for themselves and react as they would. Without thinking about it, she began to wash dishes.

"Oh, think nothing of it Miss Blacke. You are a remarkable young woman and you have a wonderful young boy. Neither of you deserves such a lout in your lives." Edward said absently as she left, not even sure if she heard him since she'd been on her way out. Now that he was alone he found that a full meal had him quite tired and for the first time and quite a while, Edward Blackwood went to his bedroom to put himself to bed.

The next morning, she was just putting Jacob down in his basket to keep Eleanor company. She was humming softly, in a particularly good mood. She was daydreaming about Mister Blackwood and how she had finally figured out how to get through to him enough for him to eat. "Oh, my Jacob... If only things were different, me boy."

"How do you want things different?" Comes Betsy's voice as she peeks into her room since she'd heard her talking to the babe. "I heard you had dinner with Master Blackwood last night and he cleaned his whole plate." The young girl said in a low whisper like this was some sort of scandal.

"Oh, nothin of import," she said, waving her hand, lifting the basket. And then when it was brought up that Edward had eaten his whole plate of food, Ruth gave a light shrug, "Was nothin', he must've been hungry." She said lightly.

"Oh tosh." Betsy said swatting Ruth playfully. "Come on, there has to be more to it than that. He goes and gives yer former husband a talking to and then you have dinner with him that very night? You can tell me." The girl practically begs clearly eager to hear something juicy.

"It's a matter of keepin' him engaged. Ye talk about his hobbies or passions, like the Dewey Decimal System. And then ye have ta remind him ta eat is all." She chuckled softly.

"Oh tosh." Betsy said clearly disappointed that Ruth didn't have tale of a meaningful glance or touch or some way she'd made the master laugh. "Well, yer still doing better than any before ya. Between you and Miss Vela we might get him back ta a proper weight." The young girl says with a bright smile.