When she heard their door open and close, she rushed out to meet her father and William to find out how the meeting had gone but the only person there was William.
“How did the meeting with Lord Wyndham go?” she asked and then nearly held her breath.
“Well, considering.”
Her chest tightened. “Considering what?”
“Father was not present.”
“Where was he?” Caroline cried.
William shrugged. “He wasn’t with the grapes, in the barn, the cellar, and not even with his experimental grapes. I would have kept looking for him but I did not want to arrive late for our appointment.”
“Have you seen Father at all today?”
“When we broke our fast. I assumed he was going where he always did when he left.”
This was not something they needed right now. “What was Wyndham’s reaction to father’s absence? What did you even tell him?”
She listened patiently to everything William told her and only breathed a sigh of relief that Sterling may have been mildly irritated but received William well. Still, she wasn’t so foolish as to think that he would not still want to meet with her father and if he were missing, she was afraid of where he might be.
“He is probably with Mother. It is what he does at the end of the harvest. Go find him and bring him back. I want to know why he did not meet Wyndham as promised.” Except, she was afraid she already did have the answer.
Chapter Forty-Three
Sterling stepped intothe shade of the stables to ask for a horse when a lad of no more than ten ran up to him.
He was one of the younger stable boys but that didn’t mean he could not do the job.
“How can I help you, Lord Wyndham?”
“I need a horse saddled.”
“Right away. I will bring you the horse, but someone bigger than me will have to saddle it,” he answered seriously as if Sterling would not have already known that. The saddle probably weighed more than the boy.
“What you need that for?”
That was a rather impertinent question. Nobody ever asked him why he wanted a horse in England. They just got one. Still, Sterling answered, “I need to find Hallaway and thought it would be quicker if I rode.”
“I know where he is.”
This took him by surprise. “Where is he?”
“He is with the grapes,” the boy answered cheerfully.
“The harvest is over,” her reminded the lad.
“Mr. Hallaway is always with the grapes, every day all year.”
That made no sense. Hallaway was his estate manager and had many other duties besides the grapes and wine.
Sterling frowned and stepped from the stable, confused by what hehad been told.
Maybe that was why William knew so much. Maybe he had already been acting as the estate manager. With that thought, Sterling returned back inside and approached the boy.
“If Hallaway is always with the grapes, who is managing the estate?” he asked and waited for the boy to name William.
“That would be Mrs. Sutcliffe.”
