"Rest assured, I absolutely did not use child labor here."
Early the next morning, Georgiana was taken to tour the local textile mills of Le Tréport. Though she suspected it had all been arranged in advance, she truly did not see a single minor on site.
Even Soho Company, which prohibited child labor, could not do without apprentices. Boulton merely stipulated that they could work only ten hours, that the air had to circulate, and that there could be no cloud-like cotton fluff floating through the air.
This world needed love and faith.
Even knowing it was false, Georgiana still smiled at the factory owner. Then, as though struck by some spell, he "turned to stone."
"Are you satisfied?" Bonaparte asked.
She nodded, then took his arm and left the factory.
The Imperial era was also known as the age of sheer dresses. Women favored loose gowns made of "white fine cotton," which required Britain's high-count yarn to weave.
Such thin clothing was ill-suited to the cold climate of the Little Ice Age. It caused respiratory ailments in many people—colds, tuberculosis, and the like. Coupled with the children suffering from fever, it seemed as if coughing could be heard everywhere.
To keep from catching cold, people often wore coats, cloaks, and the like. There was generally no fixed standard for skirt length, but the designer making Georgiana's clothes had followed Parisian fashions. Her skirt was just long enough that she had to lift it to maintain an elegant posture. Only, hers was not made of fine cotton, but Persian white satin embroidered with silver thread, understated yet luxurious.
After making such a scene yesterday, she could not refuse to give him face again today. Though they had both changed into "casual clothes" for a stroll along the shore, many people