Chapter Forty-One
Damian wished he knew the name of the man who had seduced Georgie but she did not provide it and he assumed that had been intentional.
He’d known many men like that when he studied at Cambridge. They would court and flirt and make promises to seduce, then kept the relationship until it was no longer convenient, moved on, often leaving broken hearts in their wake, and sometimes bastard children.
Though, even if he did have a name, what would he do? Call him out. Demand that the man face him at dawn with pistols drawn.
Or maybe Damian could explain to him exactly what he had lost and what an amazing woman Georgie was, all so the rogue could realize that he had been the true fool in using her in such a manner and for letting her get away.
Had he been that student…
Except, Damian was a man in a similar circumstance. The only difference is that they had become lovers equally with no promises of a future. No lies or deceptions and the only secret he was keeping was that he may have fallen in love with her.
However, he had to wonder if Georgie had simply convinced herself that it had all worked out as it should and that her life would have been no different had the rogue never made her acquaintance and seduced her.
“Has there been nothing else that you would like to do?” he asked.
“You claim that your place is at Accetta Panetteria, but have you ever considered other opportunities?” He needed to know if she would want to leave Carrera, or even Italy.
She had intended to move to England with her seducer before she had learned the truth.
“My place is at Accetta Panetteria,” Georgie answered with a shrug. “Who will take over when my father is gone? Neither sister has an interest, and I cannot simply allow my grandfather’s legacy to end.”
“I understand you feel that this is your responsibility, but it does not answer what you want to do.” Her situation was no different than his, except he was expected to run Trade Wynd, and was never really asked if that was what he wanted.
“What would you choose for yourself if there was no panetteria?”
She pursed her lips, leaned on the railing and stared out over the sea. “I honestly have not given it much thought. At one time, I thought I would travel to England and be a wife. After he left, no other options, dreams, or desires entered my mind or heart.”
Likely because she had never allowed them to and had simply accepted what her life would be because she still saw herself as ruined, which was limiting, and she may not have even realized that she had done that to herself.
“You have left the panetteria even though it was for the purpose of chasing after your sister, and not a holiday, but now that you have, could you imagine anything else you would like to do…or anywhere else you could live? I know that my perspective has changed since you dragged me along on this venture.”
“I did not force you,” Georgie reminded him. “I told you that you could remain behind, it was your brother who suggested it, and your own protectiveness that compelled you to follow me.”
“True,” he chuckled because she was correct.
It was also the best decision he had made in some time. And likely the only decision he had made in years that had not involved the operation of Trade Wynd.
“Regardless of the reasons, or who forced me, I have come to realize that I needed to experience more beyond the Trade Wynd offices and sleep.”
He turned more fully toward her. “Do you know that my eldest brother, Sterling, left England for over a year and traveled. It was for Trade Wynd and not pleasure, but he changed in the process and returned with a wife and stepdaughter.”
“Is it so very odd that he would do so?” Georgie asked.
Damian did not want to talk about his own family. He wanted to gain an answer of whether she would live anywhere besides Italy because it was suddenly important, not that he anticipated a marriage proposal, yet it lingered in the back of his mind.
“Yes, but that is the past. What about your future? Now that you have been beyond Italy can you imagine living anywhere else? I know that I would give it consideration if I was not tied to Trade Wynd.”
It was Trade Wynd that kept him in Southampton, and it had never been a choice, but an expectation.
“Carrera is my home,” she answered simply. “Yes, I may have complained about the unfairness of not being able to travel and have adventures with the same freedom that a man enjoys, but it does not change the fact that Italy is still my home—where my family is.”
Some of Damian’s hope sank.
Georgie did not think she could live anywhere besides Italy. He must remain in England. He was the manager of Trade Wynd.
Though Sterling could take over…maybe…
Why was he entertaining such opportunities?
Nine days!
That was how long he had known Georgie and nobody altered their future because of someone they had known for nine days.
*
Georgie could not help but wonder if there was a reason Damian was asking so many questions. She also had the suspicion that something had been left unsaid when he mentioned the Earl of Wyndham, or so she assumed when Damian mentioned that his perspective had changed as well.
“What do your other brothers do?”
“Elliott and Avery?”
“I assume since you have not mentioned their names, nor did I meet them for the short time that I was in Southampton.”
“You could have met Avery, had he left the conservatory.”
“Music?”
“Plants!” Damian chuckled. “My brother with the scientific mind who used to examine every invention to see if he could not make it better. Then he discovered all things botanical.”
“He is a gardener. Though, I suppose, an earl’s son should not perform such a servant profession.”
“It had been Father’s plan that Avery become the estate manager for Wyndview Hall, which was something that Avery had very little interest in doing, but acknowledged that it would not have precluded him from his inventions.
However, once he made it his mission to improve all crops, trees, plants—if it grows out of the ground, it now has Avery’s attention—the idea of studying inventions, unless it has to do with agriculture, has been set aside. ”
“By choice?” Georgie asked.
“Yes. However, he will not manage Wyndview Hall in Southampton because he will soon travel to the Cape Colony and take on the duties that once belonged to Jules and manage the vineyard, though there will be little management for him to do since Sterling does employ an excellent estate manager. Avery will likely only take on the role of land manager.”
“And, since grapes do grow out of the ground, perhaps that is where he is meant to be,” she offered weakly, to which Damian laughed.
“Avery has no objection and looks forward to a new climate, new plants, fruits, trees, and grapes, especially since he failed in growing grapes in England that would make a wine as good as those we grow elsewhere to benefit Trade Wynd.”
Everything came back to Trade Wynd, their land, the grapes. Did any of the sons have an outside interest?
“As for Elliot, I have been told that he is a rake to his bones. He can charm every woman, no matter her age, and will never be able to commit to one for the rest of his life. Whereas I am not even certain Avery would notice if a woman was in the room.”
“A rake? You have a brother who is a rake?” So had been the man who had seduced her and Georgie wasn’t so certain if she like the way that Damian described his brother as if there were nothing wrong with his behavior.
“I assure you that Elliot would have no interest in an innocent. His letters have assured me of that. Mistresses and widows, yes, but he avoids innocent misses.”
As did most men, she supposed. Only the lowest of the low would do what had been done to her.
“You say that you have been told. Have you not witnessed his behavior?”
“Elliot has written of his relationships, though not in detail and cousins have reported to me after they have visited.”
“Where does he live?”
“In Madeira. He was the one that Father sent to manage our vineyard. I have not seen Elliot since he sailed in 1812.”
She blinked at Damian. “You have not seen your brother in five years!”
“He has not returned home and I could not find the time to visit him.”
How could he go so long without visiting a sibling?
However, that wasn’t the question that bothered her the most. He claimed that it was what his father had wanted.
She then remembered the conversation they’d had in the mail coach to Liverpool.
“I did think to visit, when I was younger, but my father prohibited it, and then, when he was gone, the duty of running Trade Wynd fell to me.” They had been discussing Wyndview Farm in the Cape Colony.
She recalled wondering why would a father prohibit a son from visiting the home of his birth, or a vineyard that they owned?
She had not been comfortable asking such a personal question, yet her curiosity remained.
She then recalled what he had later said:
Thus, when my grandfather died, my father had to return to England with his wife and five sons. Now, each of us has our assigned duties, and as I am the second born, it is seeing to the management of Trade Wynd.”
“You have done what your father wanted and have not had a choice in your destiny likely from the moment you were told to pack and board a ship to sail back to England.”