"I think Chaptal may want to restore some aspects of the guilds. He has always missed the familial master-apprentice relationships they used to have," Georgiana explained to William Pitt the Younger.
"How do I know this isn't another one of his schemes?" Pitt sneered. "Last time, he feinted toward Ireland but actually attacked Egypt."
"I don't think... Bonaparte would think that much about it," Georgiana said dryly. "He knows nothing about fashion."
"Why don't you call him Leon?" Pitt asked.
Georgiana looked at the handsome former prime minister and shook her head in disbelief.
"They are like the Jacobins," Pitt went on. "Everything is initially prepared by a small group of discontented people with dubious reputations. They gather and plot unrest, as though that can truly make them happy and satisfied."
"Who?" Georgiana asked.
"Those who organize disturbances are often the craftiest among the weavers. They are good at living comfortably off their new professions," Pitt said. "It was not merely 'fraternity' that was passed on to the factory owners. I had intended to correct certain abuses that harmed the majority through a Workers' Alliance Act..."
"Please stop," Georgiana said.
"You haven't even heard me out," Pitt said. "The bill passed, and the King approved it."
Georgiana was somewhat surprised.
"What do you think serves the greater good, Pomona? Fifty thousand people becoming dependent on parish relief after losing all income, or the handful of monopolists?" Pitt said coldly.
"Poverty, fear, days that grow ever harder—those things are truly terrible. For anyone with a shred of spirit, they are unbearable," Georgiana said. "Leon is different from you, Member of Parliament..."
"William," Pitt interrupted.
"He truly rose from among the common people," Georgiana continued. "I admire men with strong wills who like children."
"Mr. Smith does not seem like someone who