Chapter Forty-Two
The days had been enjoyable, even when his body ached while he cut and stomped grapes and when he lost sleep so that he could be alone with Caroline.
Today, he woke up with a heavy heart. His time at Wyndview Farm would soon come to an end.
There were only two things left to do. The first, and his reason for coming here in the first place, was the long-awaited meeting with Hallaway.
The second, he needed to tell Caroline that he had fallen in love with her and that he did not want to live without her in his life then ask her to marry him.
What if she declined his request?
What if she did not love him as he loved her?
She had been clear that they would be lovers and that she would not be a mistress, but certainly, her emotions had grown just as his.
But, what if they hadn’t?
That was his biggest fear and why he had said nothing these past few months because he did not want what was left of his time at Wyndview Farm to be ruined with heartache and rejection.
He had been a coward, and still was, and willingly admitted to that fact, but now was the time, whether she accepted him or not.
Sterling had never been afraid of anything in his life until now.
He had also never been in love.
“You seem troubled this morning, Sterling,” his mother greeted him when he joined her to break their fast. “I thought your mood would be excellent now that the harvest is done and you can put your mind to the reason you came here to begin with.”
Did he confide in her?
He had come to understand his mother more. They talked each evening over dinner and he listened, for a change. Except he had never really confided in anyone something so personal and was not comfortable even telling his mother.
“I do have an appointment to meet with Hallaway,” he answered.
“Is that what disturbs you?” she asked with a frown.
“No,” he answered. “I am certain that now that his mind is off grapes and wine, he will be able to answer the other questions.”
He filled his cup with tea and looked over the various breakfast dishes that had been prepared, not truly hungry. There was too much on his mind. It wasn’t the estate. It was Caroline and the fear of rejection.
“What is on your mind, dear?” his mother asked softly.
“I am thinking about what needs to be done. What I need to do next.”
“Do any of those decisions involve Caroline?”
He glanced over at his mother and narrowed his eyes. “Why would you ask?”
She chuckled and set her teacup aside. “It is obvious that you have formed a tendre for her.”
How could she possibly know?
“It has been whispered about by the servants of how the two of you worked side-by-side every day of the harvest, that the two of you spoke quietly and there were times that Caroline blushed, and you would laugh. Such teasing usually only occurs when there is attraction.” She arched a brow. “Or even love.”
He did not want to have this discussion with his mother.
“She would make a fine wife, Sterling.”
He already knew that and did not need his mother to convince him.
“Follow your heart, Sterling. If you think with your head, you might talk yourself out of love or let fear control your decision.”
“I promise to make decisions with my heart and my head,” he said.
“Just your heart,” she reiterated.
“I do not even know if Caroline loves me.”
“I do know that you love Caroline.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.
Except, she never claimed that Caroline loved him, which was his main concern.
Sterling finished his tea, took a last bit of his breakfast and stood. “I will see you later, Mother.”
He then made his way to the office for his appointment with Hallaway only to find his son, William, waiting instead.
“Where is your father?”
“He…well…he…there were matters…um…”
“What matters?” Sterling asked.
“He is recovering,” William blurted out.
“Recovering? From what?”
“The, erm, harvest takes more out of him…he is not as young…”
That had been a concern. Not that Hallaway was frail, but he was getting on in years, a bit eccentric, and only worried about the grapes.
“How long have you been back at Wyndview Farm?”
“Approximately nine months.”
Sterling nodded. “I assume you attended university.”
“Yes. My father wanted that for me and my grandfather arranged it.”
“Why did you return when you could have done almost anything you wanted in England?”
“I did remain there for over a year after. I attended a Season. I went to house parties. But I was not wealthy nor titled and when my grandfather passes, my cousin will become the next baron, so friends soon fell away as I pursued areas of trade.”
“What would those be?”
“I began to apprentice for a vintner. I know wine. Or I know wine from the Cape Colony. Father had been teaching me about planting, harvest, how to care for the vines before I left for university so I assumed I would do well in that trade.”
“Did you?” Though, he presumed that he did not since William had returned to Wyndview Farm.
“I would have, except I did not like being a merchant of wine and discovered what I really wanted was to make wine like my father so I came home.”
Sterling leaned back in his chair and studied William. “Have you learned anything more since you returned, such as the duties of the estate manager or were you only interested in grapes?”
William’s face colored with embarrassment and he grew uncomfortable.
“To be honest, Lord Wyndham, I had hoped to learn all that I could so that when my father retired that I might be able to take his place as your estate manager.”
William was still young for such a duty, but since he was already learning, and Sterling did not anticipate that Hallaway would retire all that soon, he saw no reason not to consider him. “I will keep that in mind when the time comes.”
“Thank you, Lord Wyndham.”
With that out of the way, Sterling leaned forward. “Since you have been assisting your father, maybe you can answer some questions that I have.”
His eyes grew wide. “Yes, of course.”
An hour later, William walked from his office having answered all of Sterling’s questions.
He could easily forgo the meeting with Hallaway, but he did want to have one appointment with Hallaway and that was to instruct him to train William and when the time came, he would evaluate the son as a possible replacement.
The more he thought about it, the more irritated Sterling became.
Hallaway was his estate manager, therefore he should have been present for their scheduled meeting.
Yes, William had offered a reason for his father’s absence, but Sterling knew when a man was making up an excuse, therefore, Sterling decided to search for Hallway himself, but not on foot.
The estate was too large and it would take too much time, so he made his way to the stables.
*
Caroline needed to check that oranges were being harvested along with the lemons, as well as what remained of the peaches this late in the year.
The pomegranates were ready to be sold, now that they had taken what they needed from the estate, but arrangements had to be made to take the excess fruit to be sold to the ships that stopped to replenish their supplies.
They had good luck the past two years and even though there wasn’t much increase in the coffers, it was better than letting it rot because there was too much to be eaten by those who lived on the estate.
Though she supposed that the fruit should be crated and then taken to the Trade Wynd ship that would take Sterling back to England.
Yes, that was where the fruit would go and she would give instructions to one of the groundskeepers.
She would then need to meet with another to make certain that the fields would soon be plowed so that the wheat and oats could be planted and then the barley.
All of this included taking a tour with the groundskeeper who oversaw these areas and who had once reported to her father.
She also needed to meet with the maids who took care of the kitchen gardens, the vegetable gardens and the herb gardens. The days had been hot and without much rain and she needed to make certain everything was receiving enough water.
The stables were another matter, as well as checking on the chickens, ducks…there was much but Caroline could not make herself leave the house.
Her nerves were on edge because her father and William were meeting with Sterling.
All she could pray was that Sterling accepted her father’s eccentricities of being focused on grapes and that William’s answers to the questions were enough to satisfy Sterling and leave no concerns.
However, if he insisted on his father answering since he was the estate manager, they could all be in trouble and that was what worried her.
Even as early as this morning she begged him to review the reports but he waved away her concern with, “You worry too much, Caro.”
Maybe she did, but she had to worry for both of them since he wasn’t concerned.
She was going to be ill.
In retrospect, she should have just sat down with Sterling and explained and made an argument for her brother to take over her father’s position, beg forgiveness for her deception, and hope that he understood, but it was too late for that now.
Unable to remain in her house, but not willing to stray too far until after the meeting was complete, Caroline made her way to the kitchen where she met with Cook for more meal planning.
However, it wasn’t completed because they did not know when Sterling would leave.
They would not need as much food, nor as many courses once Sterling was gone so it was difficult to plan.
Caroline next met with the maids to make certain the dusting, sweeping, polishing, and laundry that had been neglected during the grape harvest would soon be completed so that everything was back to a normal schedule.
When she stepped out onto the terrace, she walked toward the gardens that she had intended to weed right after Sterling had arrived but Lady Wyndham had kept her from doing so.
But, as she neared it, noting that the weeds were now twice as bad, she remembered the cobra that had stared at her daughter from within.
She stopped walking and slowly backed up, then returned home and wrote a note so that she remembered to warn the groundskeeper before he assigned someone to remove the weeds.
When she heard their door open and close, she rushed out to meet her father and William to find out how the meeting had gone but the only person there was William.
“How did the meeting with Lord Wyndham go?” she asked and then nearly held her breath.
“Well, considering.”
Her chest tightened. “Considering what?”
“Father was not present.”
“Where was he?” Caroline cried.
William shrugged. “He wasn’t with the grapes, in the barn, the cellar, and not even with his experimental grapes. I would have kept looking for him but I did not want to arrive late for our appointment.”
“Have you seen Father at all today?”
“When we broke our fast. I assumed he was going where he always did when he left.”
This was not something they needed right now. “What was Wyndham’s reaction to father’s absence? What did you even tell him?”
She listened patiently to everything William told her and only breathed a sigh of relief that Sterling may have been mildly irritated but received William well.
Still, she wasn’t so foolish as to think that he would not still want to meet with her father and if he were missing, she was afraid of where he might be.
“He is probably with Mother. It is what he does at the end of the harvest. Go find him and bring him back. I want to know why he did not meet Wyndham as promised.” Except, she was afraid she already did have the answer.