“How much doyou know of your father’s duties?” Sterling asked Caroline after they had traveled a good distance in silence, with nothing but the crunch of the wheels along the ground, birds above, or the whispered conversation between Malik and Kaya.
He had often wondered what it would be like to experience the sensation of being in love but accepted that it would never happen. Such was for younger men like Malik, who likely wasn’t above twenty years of age.
“What was your question?” Caroline asked.
Sterling returned his attention to Caroline, who had grown rather tense. It had been a straightforward enough question, not a rebuke of Hallaway. He was simply curious since women usually had little to do with estate management.
“Is there something specific you wish to ask?”
“I wondered if he discussed matters involving the estate with you, or do you only copy his reports and accounting?”
“We have had many discussions,” she answered. “After my return, it was just the two of us at dinner, along with Livia of course, before William returned from England. He had gone there for his formal education and to attend university and remained another year to enjoy London and a Season,” she explained. “When it was just Father and me, he would tell me about his days, his duties, his concerns, and plans.”
“Had he done that before you traveled to England?”
Caroline chuckled. “I used to follow my father, pestering him with questions about the grapes, wine, and all areas of the estate because I was fascinated, especially that first year after having lived in England. Unfortunately, my mother forced me to return to the house and learn all the necessary tasks that a woman should put her mind to, which did not include stables, barns, or fields.”
The lessons had not taken because he could still recall how she rode past the window with a good portion of her leg on display. Perhaps she had always been a hoyden if her interests had been more in what her father was doing than her mother and had been forced to become a proper miss suitable to attend a Season.
“What lessons did your mother attempt to impart?” he asked with a chuckle. He had a very good idea because of the women he had met in Society, but being raised with only brothers, there might be duties he was unaware of.
“Embroidery, watercolors, etiquette, the proper running of a household, and how to play the pianoforte,” she answered. “I am certain that more was taught to me but I no longer recall and found that very little of it has been of use, though I can mend clothing as a result of the embroidery.”
“As well as run a household,” he reminded her. “You are, after all, the temporary housekeeper.”
“Yes, there is that, I suppose,” she answered with what he believed was a forced smile. If she did not like performing these duties then she should resign, especially since neither his mother, nor Caroline’s father, had been paying her for being in that position.
“Mother would be pleased that I took something from those lessons,” she murmured before she turned her eyes on the horizon, an end to their discussion.
They stopped briefly so that they could relieve some discomfort, then stroll to stretch their legs, being mindful of the dangers that mightbe on the ground and waiting to strike, even though they walked in the tracks already made by the wagons because the sound would have already disturbed any poisonous reptiles and sent them scurrying, it was wise to remain cautious.
The four of them then settled in the back of the wagon where they opened the basket of food and enjoyed a midday meal.
“How much further do we need to travel?” Sterling asked.
“We are halfway to our destination,” Malik answered. “This is where we always break for meals and to give the cattle a longer rest.”
They had stopped occasionally for that reason since the left and Sterling was beginning to remember how long, and tedious, this trip could be. He had only remembered the visits, not the length of time it took to get to Stellenbosch and then return home.
He’d also been in the back of the wagon with four younger brothers and they would play games until they grew tired, and then often bicker, before they grew bored enough to sleep while his father drove the carriage and his mother sat beside him. Servants had never accompanied them on their trips to Stellenbosch. It had only been family.
“Shall we continue?” Malik asked as he returned with Kaya by his side.
“Yes,” Caroline answered brightly and put the remains of the small repast back in the hamper as Malik climbed onto the seat of the wagon and assist Kaya.
Sterling also adjusted the blankets beneath his bum, as well as the pillows for his back so that he could continue his conversation with Caroline. How much knowledge did she possess about Wyndview Farm and her father’s duties? He also wanted to discover more about Caroline Sutcliffe.
Instead, he watched as she adjusted her seat to face forward and prop her head in her hand, elbow on the edge of the wagon. While some of her face was shaded, other parts were not and revealed thedelicate bone structure of her jaw and long neck. A few of her dark curls had escaped from her hat and bounced behind her shoulders. There was a blissful smile on her lips…lips that he would not mind tasting.
Nearly four years she had been a widow and he could not help but wonder if she missed the intimacies she would have shared with her husband.
Nor could he deny his desire. It had begun the first time he had seen her face when she had come looking for her daughter and increased when he found her in the office late at night and glimpsed the swell of her breasts above the bodice. Then there was the ball where she was the most beautiful woman present and then they had waltzed and no woman had ever been so perfect in his arms. But when his desire really became undeniable for her was when they were outside and talked for over an hour.
He wanted Caroline. Yet she was not a widow who would seek a lover, but one who was respectable, thoughtful, and kind, or she would not put up with so much from his mother.
Therefore, no matter how much he wanted her, it would not be right to seduce her. No doubt, she would reject him. He would rather converse with her than risk her avoiding him for the rest of his visit.
*
