Page 102 of Miss Wylde and the Wynd

“I did not force you,” Georgie reminded him. “I told you that you could remain behind, it was your brother who suggested it, and your own protectiveness that compelled you to follow me.”

“True,” he chuckled because she was correct.

It was also the best decision he had made in some time. And likely the only decision he had made in years that had not involved the operation of Trade Wynd.

“Regardless of the reasons, or who forced me, I have come to realize that I needed to experience more beyond the Trade Wynd offices and sleep.”

He turned more fully toward her. “Do you know that my eldest brother, Sterling, left England for over a year and traveled. It was for Trade Wynd and not pleasure, but he changed in the process and returned with a wife and stepdaughter.”

“Is it so very odd that he would do so?” Georgie asked.

Damian did not want to talk about his own family. He wanted to gain an answer of whether she would live anywhere besides Italy because it was suddenly important, not that he anticipated a marriage proposal, yet it lingered in the back of his mind.

“Yes, but that is the past. What about your future? Now that you have been beyond Italy can you imagine living anywhere else? I know that I would give it consideration if I was not tied to Trade Wynd.”

It was Trade Wynd that kept him in Southampton, and it had never been a choice, but an expectation.

“Carrera is my home,” she answered simply. “Yes, I may have complained about the unfairness of not being able to travel and have adventures with the same freedom that a man enjoys, but it does not change the fact that Italy is still my home—where my family is.”

Some of Damian’s hope sank.

Georgie did not think she could live anywhere besides Italy. He must remain in England. He was the manager of Trade Wynd.

Though Sterling could take over…maybe…

Why was he entertaining such opportunities?

Nine days!

That was how long he had known Georgie and nobody altered their future because of someone they had known for nine days.

*

Georgie could not help but wonder if there was a reason Damian was asking so many questions. She also had the suspicion that something had been left unsaid when he mentioned the Earl of Wyndham, or so she assumed when Damian mentioned that his perspective had changed as well.

“What do your other brothers do?”

“Elliott and Avery?”

“I assume since you have not mentioned their names, nor did I meet them for the short time that I was in Southampton.”

“You could have met Avery, had he left the conservatory.”

“Music?”

“Plants!” Damian chuckled. “My brother with the scientific mind who used to examine every invention to see if he could not make it better. Then he discovered all things botanical.”

“He is a gardener. Though, I suppose, an earl’s son should not perform such a servant profession.”

“It had been Father’s plan that Avery become the estate manager for Wyndview Hall, which was something that Avery had very little interest in doing, but acknowledged that it would not have precluded him from his inventions. However, once he made it his mission to improve all crops, trees, plants—if it grows out of the ground, it now has Avery’s attention—the idea of studying inventions, unless it has to do with agriculture, has been set aside.”

“By choice?” Georgie asked.

“Yes. However, he will not manage Wyndview Hall in Southampton because he will soon travel to the Cape Colony and take on the duties that once belonged to Jules and manage the vineyard, though there will be little management for him to do since Sterling does employ an excellent estate manager. Avery will likely only take on the role of land manager.”

“And, since grapes do grow out of the ground, perhaps that is where he is meant to be,” she offered weakly, to which Damian laughed.

“Avery has no objection and looks forward to a new climate, new plants, fruits, trees, and grapes, especially since he failed in growing grapes in England that would make a wine as good as those we grow elsewhere to benefit Trade Wynd.”