Silence as the two stared at one another. In Li-Na’s mind, she saw Lord Daniel as a tiger looking down into a pool of water. Did he see his own reflection there? Or a fish he was ready to snatch and eat?
“Is that all you want to say?” Lord Daniel pressed.
The boy lifted his chin. “And it’smy castle.You rent it from me.”
A light went on in Li-Na’s mind as she finally understood who everyone was. This boy was Stefan, the new Earl of Walden. And the lady was his mother, the dowager countess, Lord Daniel’s sister-in-law. Now their familiarity made sense.
“And you think you can destroy it just because it’s yours?”
The boy shrugged, the answer as loud as any declaration. Of course, he could do what he wanted with what was his.
“It’s not your son’s? Or his son’s?”
The boy couldn’t be more than twelve years old. What child thought of his children then? Obviously not this one. He shook his head. “It’s mine.”
“It’s not. It’s the earldom’s, held in trust for you as you hold it in trust for the next generation.”
“But I’m theearl.”
“And how can you be an earl, Stefan, if you haven’t the least idea what it means?” He squatted down until they were face to face. “Do you have a responsibility to the land, to the castle over there, and to the son you will eventually have who will grow up to care for this place as you do?”
Li-Na watched Stefen chew on this information. It was a difficult concept for a child, but one she understood from her education in China. Man served nature in harmony with its rhythms. It was painted over and over in their art. She had not seen such a thing in England where landscapes were ignored in favor of huge oil canvases of people in stiff poses.
“Have you nothing to say to that?” Lord Daniel continued.
The boy shook his head.
“Well, you better find an answer because I’ll expect it of you tomorrow when we go about looking at your castle and figuring out how to keep other blocks from falling down.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good man. And now I have another question for you.”
To the side, the boy’s mother released a heavy sigh. “Can we not discuss this over dinner? I’m exhausted.”
Lord Daniel grimaced. “Yes, of course. Let’s get the ladies inside.” He turned to Li-Na. “Do you need to change your clothes before we leave? Are you too wet from the sand?”
Li-Na frowned at him. “I am dry.”
“Good. Then up you go,” he said as he opened the door to the carriage.
“What?”
“Inside.” He turned and gave his hand to his sister-in-law to help her climb in. “Stefen, do you go inside with them or up top with me?”
The boy jumped up onto the driver’s bench before his uncle had finished the question. And then Lord Daniel turned to her.
“Miss Li-Na?”
“You want me to ride in the carriage and then dine with you?”
He nodded. “That had always been the intention, you know. Didn’t I tell you that you were supposed to stay at the manor home? Dinner with the family was always my plan.”
Was this a strange Cornish custom? “Why would a servant dine with the family?”
“Because you’re not a servant, Miss Li-Na. You’re a guest.”
“Good God,” his sister-in-law huffed from inside the carriage. “Don’t blame her for being confused. You haven’t even introduced us!”