She was standing with her back to the doorway and suddenly heard a footstep behind her. She turned quickly to discover Elizabeth standing there with a tea tray. The older woman came into the room and set the tray down on a table. She nodded to the portrait of a severe-faced, gray-mustached man on the wall opposite.
"That's the man who built Collins House," she said. "My great-grandfather, Jeremiah Collins. He was one of the most outstanding of our line. It was he who began the fishing firm, as well. My own father developed the canning end of it into a world-wide business." She filled two cups and asked, "Do you prefer your tea with lemon or cream?"
"Lemon, please."
Elizabeth handed her the cup and they sat down facing each other. The older woman said, "I hoped my brother, Roger, would be here to meet you. It is his boy, David, who will be in your care. But he seems to have wandered off somewhere."
Victoria took a sip of her tea. "There'll be plenty of time," she said. "How old is David?"
"He is nine," Mrs. Stoddard said with another slight frown. "I am a frank woman, Miss Winters. And I intend to be frank now. You will find the boy difficult. Extremely difficult."
"Most boys are at his age," she suggested with a smile.
"David is no ordinary boy," the other woman said ...
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