He did, but it tasted no different than any other grape. There had to be a difference and he wanted to ask questions because this was what Sterling had wanted to learn since he was a boy, which left him torn. Did he stay and take in everything that Hallaway might teach him, or find Caroline?
She had been alarmed and upset when she fled his mother’s sitting room.
Except, he had been under the impression that she would be by her father and watching so that he did not overexert himself but she was not to be found.
“Where might your daughter be?”
Hallaway shook his head. “Caro worries too much. About me. About the grapes. About the harvest.”
Just as his mother had claimed.
“She is fretting in the barn and once she sees that all is as it should be, she will be back to stay at my side so that I do not overdo.”
“Is there a reason she should be concerned.”
Hallaway laughed. “As I said, she worries too much.” He then walked on, stopping and examining grapes. Sterling followed, torn with whether he should stay and learn or find Caroline.
When Hallaway reached the end of the row and turned to Sterling. “Is it your turn to hover? Did Caro send you in her stead?”
“No, of course not,” Sterling insisted. Except, he had every right to be there. He owned the property.
“What if I am simply here to observe and learn,” he returned.
“To what purpose?” he countered. “You will be gone soon and it might be another seven years or more before you are back.” Hallaway walked to the next row and continued examining grapes.
Had his estate manager insulted him for being an absentee owner? It wasn’t as if he could abandon England, the estate there, and Trade Wynd to grow grapes in the Cape Colony.
Except, he wanted to. If he could, he would leave England behind and remain here, on Wyndview Farm and with Caroline and live a simpler life.
No wonder his mother hadn’t rushed to return to England.
Unfortunately, he had responsibilities that he couldn’t shirk and he had already been away too long.
“Your father trusted me,” Hallaway reminded him. “Unless you have complaints.”
Sterling took a step back. He was being dismissed by his estate manager. Such would be unheard of in England.
“Do you have complaints?” he asked pointedly.
“No. None.”
Hallaway nodded. “Then do not concern yourself with learning what I know. Find my daughter before she is overset.”
Overset? Sterling could not imagine Caroline being overset any more than fretting or being fussy, and it was rather laughable. Then again, he had not known her long, nor had he been present during a harvest.
“If you do not take her away, and back to your mother, she will be back by my side, a nuisance and distraction that I do not need.”
He spoke as if Caroline was a child, which she most certainly wasnot. No, she was a fully grown passionate woman who would be dressed in trousers if he took her to Table Mountain.
“I will do as you ask, but tomorrow, I will want to learn.”
Hallaway nodded then shooed him away without looking up from his grapes.
It was very disrespectful, but the man did know what he was doing better than anyone else so Sterling did not take offense or discipline him. Instead, he went off to find Caroline who was standing at the entrance of the barn when he came across her.
She did not appear worried or concerned, but sad.
“Is all well, Caroline?” he asked, using her given name since no one was near enough to hear them.
