“I will see if the servants to accompany you are ready,” Lady Wyndham started for the entry.
“Are you certain that they want to go?” Caroline asked.
“Oh, yes,” Lady Wyndham assured her. “I asked for volunteers and Malik and Kaya were quick to respond. They enjoy such activities.”
They had also only been married for a few days and likely wanted to spend more time together. Such was young love.
“Your clothing is casual. Perhaps I should change,” Wyndham said.
“The climb can be difficult at times, but worth the effort. However, if you do not want what you are wearing to be potentially damaged, I would suggest changing into something that you wouldnot mind becoming dirty or possibly torn. The path can be steep and rugged in places.”
“Cook has readied a picnic to carry in shoulder bags so that your hands are free,” his mother said.
“Why would we need our hands free?” Sterling asked cautiously.
“Well, for one, it helps with balance. The second reason is that you will have a walking stick so that your presence warns away any snakes that may be further up the trail.”
Caroline did not like snakes, but with warning of a stick hitting the ground, they slithered away. It was when snakes were surprised and cornered that unpleasant consequences occurred.
“Mother, what is this?” Sterling lifted an old worn leather satchel with a long strap that could be worn over a shoulder.
“Yours, dear.”
A faint smile formed as his blue eyes warmed.
“It was discovered when your chamber was being prepared upon your arrival. I thought you might like to take it with you.”
“I thought it had been lost when we moved,” he murmured and opened the flap.
“There are stunning views from the top. Perhaps you might want to sketch them,” his mother said right before she left them.
He withdrew a sketchbook and pencils and Caroline came forward as he flipped to the first page.
“There is nothing in it.”
“No, there would not be,” he answered then closed it. “I had not used all the pages in my other book and was saving this one for the voyage but could not find it once we sailed. I thought it had been packed way in the trunks that were stored below but when we unpacked after arriving in England, it was not there either.”
“You never told me that you drew.” How many layers were there to Sterling? Every time she learned something new, Caroline realized how much she had misjudged him when he had first arrived.
“I no longer draw,” he answered and placed the items back in the leather satchel.
“Why?” Caroline asked with concern.
“Because with adulthood comes responsibilities that do not allow for such frivolity of sitting around sketching or drawing whenever a person feels like doing so.”
That was rather harsh and Caroline found herself stepping back.
“That is truly a shame!” his mother criticized on her return. “You were quite talented.”
“I accept that there is bias in your opinion.”
“It was also something you enjoyed, Sterling. You were rarely without your sketchbook when you lived here.”
“I was also a boy.”
Caroline now knew why Lady Wyndham had left the satchel out. His mother wanted to remind him of what was important because she feared that he would never be happy. It was the same reason she had sent him to Stellenbosch, then to Boulder Beach, and now Table Mountain.
As much of an inconvenience as it was to be gone, Caroline also realized that Sterling would not go to these places on his own. Besides, she certainly wasn’t needed in the vineyard, so why shouldn’t she enjoy her time with Sterling before he was gone?
