Corralled your wayward charge, have you?

[euriclea]

I'm a little lost here.
Work of fiction. England, 1940. A high-society girl newly enrolled in the Women's Land Army reaches the Yorkshire village where she's been posted as a land girl (apple harvesting job). She briefly meets her boss, Hardwick - una sorta di caporale che supervisiona il lavoro dei campi - in front of the village's church. She is a good-looking young woman and she attracts the attention of a group of men nearby. One of them approaches her and Hardwick, saying:

Ah, Hardwick. Corralled your wayward charge, have you?

Conosco il significato delle singole parole (hai tenuto a freno/recintato la tua carica ribelle) e sospetto che ci sia un sottinteso sessista: l'uomo non toglie gli occhi di dosso alla ragazza. Però non sono sicura di aver capito, e non so come rendere l'esclamazione in italiano.
Any help will be much appreciated.

 

[theartichoke]

Unless there's a meaning to the Italian carica that I don't know, this "charge" is the persona affidata a qualcuno meaning of the English word, so he's saying, in a jokey sort of way, "so you've finally managed to find this troublesome girl whom you're responsible for?". I don't think there's much more to it than that, though perhaps "wayward," when applied to a young woman of that era, could have the tiniest hint of allusion to the idea of a "wayward girl," that at the time meant, primarily, "unmarried and sexually active." But if there's an allusion, it's very slight. It's more as if he's speaking of her (again, jokingly) as if she's a troublesome child.

 

[euriclea]

Grazie, artichoke! Mi era sfuggito completamente quel significato di charge, of course I see it now! Yes, Hardwick is in charge of the girl, and "wayward" can refer to the fact that she arrived at the village hours after she was expected.
Grazie ancora del tuo aiuto prezioso.

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