Chapter Three #2
It did not matter because she was a mother who had abandoned her children and it did not matter what the circumstances. No, his father should not have left her behind, but that did not excuse her guilt for not returning home.
He set his tea aside and stood. “I think I will bathe and unpack.” He then turned and marched from the sitting room, determined to remain defensive in further conversations because he was not so readily willing to forgive what she had done, nor was it easy to let go of an anger that had festered for eleven years simply because she offered an explanation, even if he was guilty of ignoring her.
*
“Do you understand the importance?” Caroline asked her father.
She took the reports that she had managed to retrieve from the office before coming home and spread them on the dining table. “Wyndham may question you and you must be able to recall what has been in the reports previously sent to him and the accounting.”
“I am not concerned, Caro,” her father responded.
That was the problem. Her father concerned himself with very little.
All that mattered were the grapes and the wine.
Not the cattle or the milk cows, nor the horses in the stable rarely ridden, nor their garden, which while not vast, fed the family and servants, as did the grove of fruit trees that needed to be cared for, and the chickens and their eggs, and the ducks in the pond, nor even seeing that common repairs were made to an estate that was one hundred and fifty years old.
Sometimes she wondered if he even remembered what else needed his attention as the estate manager. “Please, Father. Read and memorize the reports. They are duplicates of what has been sent to Lord Wyndham.”
“I will,” he promised. “I will read each tonight.”
She glanced at William.
“As will I,” her brother promised.
At least William understood the importance of providing accurate information for the meeting scheduled.
William reached forward and picked up the most recent report and accounting. “These are three months old,” he stated.
“The current quarterly reports and accounting are back at the house and in the office waiting to be completed. I could not risk taking them while Wyndham was meeting with his mother. These were already set aside and easy enough to retrieve,” she explained.
“I will return later tonight, after all the lights have been extinguished on the lower floors and make copies.”
“I will make certain that we both rise early so that we have time to prepare,” her brother assured her.
Caroline gave a nod and rose from the table. It was time to have another serious discussion, which was not always easy when that child was only five.
“Come along, Livia.”
Her daughter hopped off the chair and followed Caroline into the kitchen where water had been warming on the stove. After she poured the pots of water into the large basin, Livia removed her clothing and got in the large basin.
“I need you to promise me that you will not go beyond the kitchens.”
“Ever?” Livia questioned as she lathered soap over her body.
“Only when Lord Wyndham is here,” Caroline clarified. “If you are not in this house with me, Grandpapa, William, or Beatrix, you need to sit quietly in the kitchens and wait for one of us.”
Beatrix was the daughter of another local landowner who served as a governess to Livia by watching over her and giving her lessons in reading, math, and sciences.
“Why?” Livia asked.
Why was it that children always asked the most difficult questions to answer? Why couldn’t she simply accept what Caroline told her and obey?
“Lord Wyndham may not appreciate you being underfoot as you were today when you visited Lady Wyndham.”
“She does not mind,” Livia reminded her.
“I know, but he will and since Lord Wyndham is the gentleman who employs Grandpapa and owns the land, we must remain quiet and out of his way.” The instructions were not only for Livia but Caroline as well.
She could not draw further attention to herself and hoped that Wyndham forgot they had even met.
She could only hope that she found a way to avoid him from now until the time that he sailed.
Caroline looked into her daughter’s brown eyes and made certain that her tone was grave. “Do you promise to stay here or in the kitchens?”
Livia stared back, grew serious, and then nodded.
“It will not be for long,” she assured her daughter and hoped that she was correct.
After washing and clothing Livia again, Caroline had her brother haul the water out, and then crossed the paved terrace that separated the kitchens and house from the cottage Caroline shared with her family.
She hoped that Cook would offer something that they could eat for supper since there was nothing but bread, biscuits, and tea in her kitchen.
It wasn’t that Caroline didn’t know how to cook, there simply had been no reason to because Lady Wyndham insisted that her father, brother, and Caroline join her for meals while Livia ate with the servants or Beatrix, something that they would not be doing while Wyndham was in residence.
Caroline glanced around the kitchen and at the servants.
Some were cutting vegetables, others rolling dough, while another checked the contents in an oven while Cook stirred a large pot on the stove.
Now was not the time to interrupt them, but as she turned to leave, Cook called out, “Dinner will be delivered.”
“That is not necessary.”
Cook paused and anchored a hand on her hip. “Do you prefer to starve?”
“I was simply going to request items so that I may prepare a meal for my family.”
At her words, Cook laughed. “Now is not the time to risk your father’s health. A hamper of food will be delivered.”
“I do know how to cook!” Caroline insisted.
“I am certain that you do,” Cook returned. “Just not well. Now, go along.”
Insulted and relieved, Caroline turned and left the kitchen.
Her cooking wasn’t so bad.
As she crossed the terrace, Caroline glanced back at the house.
Awareness trickled down her spine as goosepimples stood up on her arms and the hair rose on the back of her neck—a sixth sense of being watched or danger was near.
Slowly, she turned and looked around, first for a poisons snake or scorpion, but saw nothing.
She then looked up, and right at Lord Wyndam who stood staring out his window—at her.
Her stomach churned as their eyes met, and Caroline quickly turned around and retreated to the home she shared with her father.
Oh, she wished she could have seen the emotion in his eyes, but perhaps it was best that she hadn’t since his eyebrows were drawn together and his mouth firm with disapproval.