“What of the floor in the home of a relation.”
“That is not done either.”
“I will not allow anyone to give up a bed for me since I was not expected.”
“I have the perfect solution,” Mrs. Cloate announced.
“What would that be?” Caroline asked.
“If we hang a curtain down the center of the room, then it is just the same as having two separate rooms.”
Except, it wasn’t. They would still be sharing a small cottage with no chaperone.
“I am certain that my nephew is a gentleman and there should be no worries,” Mrs. Cloate continued.
It did not matter if he stayed on his side of the curtain or not, others would know that they had shared the cottage, alone, together, all night.
“Now, come along. Dinner will be ready soon.”
She glanced across the room as Sterling placed his valise on the floor beside the other bed, accepting their situation without argument.
In that instant, Caroline realized that she would get no rest that night. Not while temptation slept on the other side of a curtain pretending to be a wall.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Not only wasthe meal filling, but Sterling enjoyed the conversation in his great-aunt’s home. There were a few relatives from his mother’s family present—men he had played with when they had all been boys. They laughed and teased and made him long for the days when his family had still lived at Wyndview Farm. Further, he wasn’t the Earl of Wyndham here. He was Sterling.
Memories that he had forgotten reemerged and a sense of nostalgia filled his being.
If only his father’s older brothers had not died without heirs, Sterling might have spent his life here. Except, he would not have met Caroline. There would have been no need for an estate manager because that had been his father’s position and would have been Sterling’s.
His life would have been extraordinarily different.
Except, it wasn’t and it did no good to wonder who he would have been if his father hadn’t inherited the earldom.
The cousins he used to play with when they were children had married and now had children of their own who played the same games.
An ache of longing for the same—a wife to love and children—grew in his chest as the night grew long. He wanted what his cousins had but as it had not found him yet, it might never.
He glanced over at Caroline. She had managed to find love andhad a daughter, but she had also lost him and was now a widow. Had she wanted to marry again or was she content with her life at Wyndview Farm?
Sterling was happy for those who found love and shared a joyful family. For him, it would likely be an amicable marriage to produce an heir and a spare.
Except, he did have four younger brothers. His father had been the third son and unexpectedly inherited, so his brothers or one of their sons, when they managed to marry and have them, could replace Sterling one day.
Should he force himself to fulfill his duty and stay unhappy?
More importantly, why hadn’t the option ever occurred to him before?
No, he was not going to settle. If he were not as lucky as his cousins, then he would simply not wed but the name would continue.
This holiday was turning out to be enlightening with discovering perspective to his situation and returning memories once lost.
And he was also able to spend this visit with Caroline, who seemed to enjoy his family and was certainly familiar with them. All in all, he was very glad his mother had forced him to come to Stellenbosch, not that he would ever tell her because she would meddle even more until he sailed away.
However, he faced one difficulty—sharing a cottage with the woman he had desired since he arrived at Wyndview Farm, with only a blanket to separate them.
With temptation so close, it was unlikely he would get any sleep at all.
