Just like everyone in London was talking. He began to see why Li-Na spent her time in London covered in widow’s weeds. “Has she insulted you in any way?”
“Me? Of course not. I wouldn’t allow it.”
“Then perhaps you should stop listening to gossip—”
“Do not instruct me on how to go on. There’s the way things work and ways they do not. You aren’t here enough to know that, but I am.” Her words were interrupted by a screech of outrage. One that accelerated into a fit of hysterics that filled the room despite them being a floor beneath the nursery.
“Joseph?” Daniel asked.
She nodded. “He was finally settled in the inn, but this return home has upset things again. We’re managing of course, but the paint smell is awful and the garden is upset. I should not have returned here so early, but I could not abide the noise at the inn. Too many people going in and out. I thought this would be better.”
“Would you like me to go help? Perhaps I could—”
“You? Goodness no. He’s used to you, but that doesn’t mean he prefers you. And when he gets like this, he just needs to cry himself out.” They both winced as another loud screech filled the air. Nessie sighed and pushed up from her chair. “I will go see to him. You go handle your mistress.”
“She is not my mistress!” he huffed.
“Then make it clear to everyone exactly what she is before the talk becomes impossible to ignore!”
He didn’t respond. It wasn’t worth his breath. And while she went upstairs to help Nanny with Joseph, he took his time wandering through the restored manor home. The repair wasn’t complete. Indeed, the left wing of the house was not yet habitable with unpainted walls and dirty floors. He was pleased to see that the construction looked solid, and he wondered again why his usually fussy sister-in-law had returned to the manor so early. He had thought she would spend at least another month in the inn.
Then he chanced to overhear a maid and footman speaking outside the door that led to the back garden. Their tones were low, but he could hear them clearly enough, especially as he listened from right inside the door.
“She asked about the linens!” the woman was saying. “I heard it myself. About how to wash them, who does the washes, who says when they’re torn and need to be tossed to the rubbish. Imagine not knowing how to wash.”
“Did you tell her?”
“Not me! It’s not my place to educate a Chinese princess, but Fran did. She can’t stop talking, that one. Told her every bit of it and that woman just nods and says thank you. Like she’d just learned the secrets of making gold.Thank you.”
“Wasn’t that nice of her. To thank—”
“Course it was nice, but I don’t trust it. Lord Daniel’s always bringing in crazy things, now he’s bringing in crazy women. What does a Chinese princess want to know how to wash linens for? It’s crazy, and I won’t tolerate it here. That’s what I told the countess.”
“What did she say?”
“What did she say? She said that she didn’t like Lord Daniel sending a foreign woman to spy on us, that’s what. And I’m not the only one who said it. She told me they were all talking about it at the inn. How much to buy wheat or corn. What do the pigs eat and who pays for it. All that kind of nonsense. She’s always nice about it. Always finds someone to talk. But then the whole village talks about her. I heard it all last night we were at the inn.”
Daniel cringed. So that was what sent Nessie running back to the manor house early. Nessie fully understood that gossip was the life blood of a village, but she disliked it when that life blood centered on something she considered inappropriate. A foreign spy would definitely be inappropriate. As would a Chinese princess. As would a mistress, bookkeeper, or anything else that Daniel did that was out of the norm.
And what would Nessie consider appropriate gossip? The progress of the manor home as it was repaired. The latest news from London. The widow Greeves’ pig or an unwed girl’s pregnancy. Those were the normal things of gossip, but Daniel’s life was not normal, as she had told him many times. And when the gossip centered on his mad doings, that was unacceptable.
And it was. Not because of the gossip, but because Li-Na had been the subject of it. He needed to have a frank talk with her to find out exactly what she’d been doing while he was gone and why.
Chapter Twenty-One
Li-Na heard himcome in. After weeks in this castle, she had gotten used to every sound whether it be the wind against the stonework or the tromp of Mr. Gummo as he brought in fresh eggs. But in this case, she saw Lord Daniel too because she was sitting outside, high on a battlement, as she watched the stars and thought about him.
He was stomping along the path, occasionally kicking at a stone or whipping his cane at a nearby brush. That told her he was in a temper, and she wondered if she should reveal herself. She was still debating the logic when she called out to him. He had filled her thoughts too much for her to not see his face lift up to the stars.
“Good evening, Lord Daniel!” she cried.
He jolted and looked up. “What are you doing up there? It’s not safe!”
“You come out here all the time. Mrs. Hocking said so.”
With the moonlight on his face, she could see him purse his lips and mutter. “Everyone talks too damn much.” Then before she could respond, he held up his hand. “Stay there. I’ll join you. There are some things I want to ask.”
She nodded and waited while the squiggles twisted and squirmed inside her. Two weeks ago, she’d felt abandoned and confused when he’d left. Part of her had been determined to be cold to him when he returned. She’d wanted to show him that his presence or absence made no difference to her internal peace. But after two weeks, she was happy to see him, excited to tell him everything she’d learned in his absence, and very interested to find out if he would kiss her again.