Roger sighed. "I really wish I could help." He glanced toward the docks. "The [i]Allure[/i] is back in town and they cause so much trouble. Dock Foreman wants to make sure there's enough security presence to keep them in line. I might be able to get out of there by seven but I don't think your landlady will be real happy with me coming by. It's not really proper." He could just hear her now. 

As it was, every time that he stopped by to see Beatrix, the woman would give him such an earful about how he would need to watch himself, keep his hands to himself, and on and on. It didn't help to tell her that they were just friends. It didn't matter that Roger was a gentleman and would conduct himself as such. No. The woman seemed to have it out for him - or maybe it was just men in general. But that didn't really stop him from going to see Bea or coming over when she requested - though they were restricted to the main room - which was fine. Bea was his friend and he wasn't going to let some person get in the way of that. Though, he did understand her point, a bit anyway. Appearances had to be kept - not that anything would happen - but just because. Besides, Roger didn't want any rumors started that might ruin Bea's reputation.

Big Ben struck half past. Roger looked at Beatrix. "If you want, I can see about coming over after but I don't want to get you into trouble and I doubt Ms. Mortimer would let me stay long." He gave her a pointed look. "Though, you might fixate on your examinations first. Don't want to do poorly because you didn't study." He gave her a smile, guessing how she would probably take that.

~~~~
He was a thin wirey, slightly sickly looking man. He smiled at the captain and handed over some papers. "My references," he said. "Served in the Royal Air Force during the war - making my way to main mechanic for the [i]Flynter[/i] class airship. I oversaw all the mechanical duties aboard the [i]HMS Havock[/i]. You can see there I was awarded several medals and commendations for my job." He puffed his thin chest out, obviously proud of his accomplishments. "After the war, I worked on a few different merchant vessels, all as first or second mechanic. The captain of my last ship just retired about four months ago. I din't really want to sign up for some big ship. I'm looking more for something smaller - something more manageable - like your ship." Again he smiled. "So when I heard your lovely daughter mentioning you needed a good mechanic I thought, this was what I've been looking for." He nodded toward the ship. "And might I say, she's a beaut."

He had several references. One from the captain of the [i]HMS Havock[/i] raving over how great of job he did. There was a couple others from various merchant airships - all fairly larger class. Fredrick waited patiently while the captain read his references. He wasn't worried that he never worked a smaller ship. He had the experience. Bah. He could do anything. He was fairly confident that the job would be his.