Julia had been at the estate for about a week and returned with a bit of a tan, but looking radiant and in high spirits. Eager to share the good news, she rushed to report to Maria.

Naturally, Simon, who was also very interested in the villa's harvest, joined Maria in listening.

"We harvested about 40,600 kg of corn from the 8 acres of cornfields, about 12,300 kg of potatoes from the 1-acre potato field, and even though we only planted two-thirds of an acre of peanuts, we still got about 600 kg," Julia excitedly recited the large numbers. Finally, she added with a bit of concern, "My Lord, Madam,...