Chapter Forty-Three
Sterling stepped into the shade of the stables to ask for a horse when a lad of no more than ten ran up to him.
He was one of the younger stable boys but that didn’t mean he could not do the job.
“How can I help you, Lord Wyndham?”
“I need a horse saddled.”
“Right away. I will bring you the horse, but someone bigger than me will have to saddle it,” he answered seriously as if Sterling would not have already known that. The saddle probably weighed more than the boy.
“What you need that for?”
That was a rather impertinent question. Nobody ever asked him why he wanted a horse in England. They just got one. Still, Sterling answered, “I need to find Hallaway and thought it would be quicker if I rode.”
“I know where he is.”
This took him by surprise. “Where is he?”
“He is with the grapes,” the boy answered cheerfully.
“The harvest is over,” her reminded the lad.
“Mr. Hallaway is always with the grapes, every day all year.”
That made no sense. Hallaway was his estate manager and had many other duties besides the grapes and wine.
Sterling frowned and stepped from the stable, confused by what he had been told.
Maybe that was why William knew so much. Maybe he had already been acting as the estate manager. With that thought, Sterling returned back inside and approached the boy.
“If Hallaway is always with the grapes, who is managing the estate?” he asked and waited for the boy to name William.
“That would be Mrs. Sutcliffe.”
“You mean William, her brother,” Sterling corrected.
“No. William follows her a lot but it is Mrs. Sutcliffe who—”
“—Johnny, who are you talking to and what are you telling him?”
Sterling looked up to find an older stable hand approaching with concern. He had worked next to the man when they were cutting grapes—Lyle was his name if Sterling remembered correctly.
“I was just telling Lord Wyndham about Mrs. Sutcliffe.”
“You are mistaken.” There was more warning than correction in Lyle’s tone.
Did everyone know that Caroline was doing the duties of the estate manager?
Wasn’t her being her father’s secretary, mother’s companion, temporary housekeeper, and sometimes gardener enough? Maybe that was why they were confused—because she did so much because everyone knew that women were not estate managers.
“Thank you,” he said. “I will not be needing a horse now.”
Sterling stepped back outside and wondered what to do next.
The boy had to be wrong. If Caroline was the estate manager, he would know. She would have told him.
Once again Sterling returned inside.
“If Mr. Hallaway is not with the grapes, where might he be?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Johnny answered with a grin. “The cemetery just down the road by the old church.”
Bloody hell! What was going on at Wyndview Farm?
“I believe I will need that horse after all.”
*
It took all afternoon of walking the estate with the groundskeeper and taking notes before Caroline knew everything that needed to be accomplished.
She then discussed those with the groundskeeper and in the order in which they should be done, her concerns, and solutions.
With her notebook in hand, she returned to her house to write more detailed notes that would be needed when she prepared her next quarterly report to send to Sterling.
She also needed to update the records on how many barrels of wine they had produced this harvest and the anticipation for next year.
Those amounts were all fresh in her mind since the last barrel had been stored yesterday.
She had just failed to make note of it because she had been tired and then Sterling had come to her room.
By the time she had finished, neither William nor her father had returned and it worried her. So much so that she had to search for them herself, only to find her father walking back with William, a bottle in his hand.
Caroline groaned and rushed forward.
“Caroline,” her father greeted happily. “It was an excellent harvest. I was just telling your mother all about it. She would be happy, and proud of you.”
“Come along, Father. Let us get you inside.”
She and her brother ushered her father around the main house and then onto the terrace so that they could enter their own home.
“I will brew some tea. Very strong tea,” Caroline said and rushed to the kitchen. When she returned, she took the bottle from him and handed him the tea.
At least he wasn’t too deep in his cups, just enough that it put him in a pleasant mood. She supposed it could be worse.
“Father, you need to listen to me,” she began.
“I listen, Caro. I always listen, but you do not hear me.”
“Oh, Father, but I do. You just refuse to understand.”
“What would you have me understand?”
“It is imperative that you meet with Wyndham tomorrow. You must also be able to answer any question he has about the estate.”
“William met with him,” her father dismissed.
“William is not the estate manager, you are,” she reminded her father.
“If you do not meet with him, there is a very good chance that you will be sacked. If that happens, you will never be able to work with the grapes again. You will not be able to tend the vines that Mother cultivated. They will belong to another. We might even be forced to return to England and you will not be able to visit mother any longer. Do you understand me?”
He drew in a heavy breath before he blew it out. “I understand, Caro. I will do as you ask, but only for you and your mother’s vines.”
“Why wait until tomorrow when we can discuss the estate now?”
Caroline whipped around to find Sterling standing at the entry to the sitting room. His blue eyes were hard and jaw tight, looking very much the gentleman from that first day he had arrived at Wyndview Farm.
Behind him stood William, helplessly holding his arms out.
Her heart sank to her stomach.
“Good evening, Lord Wyndham,” Caroline greeted him.
“Are you drunk, Hallaway?” Sterling demanded.
“Tipsy, perhaps.”
Why couldn’t he claim to be drunk? Then maybe Sterling would put off this interview.
“Then there is no reason why you and Mrs. Sutcliffe cannot return with me to the house. I have a few questions regarding the estate.”
“I thought William answered them all,” her father returned.
Oh, she did not need her father to be difficult. He had just promised her that he would be prepared…tomorrow.
“He is not the estate manager. You are the one who currently holds that title.”
Her father was going to be sacked and they would all be forced to leave. It was exactly as she feared.
“Come along.” He looked at Caroline, his blue eyes boring into hers. “You as well.”
Oh God. He knew.