her.
He whispered in her ear and jumbo looked bewildered, not an unusual expression for her.
The Mile High Club, what in heaven's name is that? Shasa whispered again and she peered out of the side window at the earth below.
Goodness! I didn't realize we were that high. You get a special brooch when you become a member, Shasa told her, made of gold and diamonds. And jumbo's interest flared.
Oh goody! What kind of brooch? A flying pussy cat, with gold wings and diamond eyes. A pussy cat? Why a pussy, she broke off as understanding dawned in those china blue eyes. Shasa Courtney, you are awfulF She lowered her eyes and blinked demurely, and Shasa winked across the aisle at the Camel.
I think Davie wants to talk to you. The Camel rose obediently, glass in hand, all her bangles and beads jangling as she wobbled from one side of the aisle to the other.
An hour later Shasa brought the Rapide in from the mountain side of the airstrip, and laid her down on the grass as though he were buttering hot toast. He swung her nose around before she had stopped, taxiing back towards the hangars. With a burst of the starboard engine, he brought her up onto the hard stand and cut the motors.
Only then did he notice the yellow Daimler parked in the shadow of the hangar with Centaine standing beside it.
Oh for the love of Allah, Mater is here. Get those beauties flat on the floor! Too late, David groaned. Jumbo, bless her, is already waving at your mum through the porthole., Shasa steeled himself to his mother's wrath as jumbo came giggling down the boarding ladder, supporting the Camel, whose legs had finally let her down.
Centaine said nothing, but she had a taxi waiting beside the Daimler. How she had known about the girls Shasa would never ask, but she waved the taxi forward and herded the unsteady pair into the back seat with an eye like a stockwhip.
Get their luggage in the boot, she ordered Shasa tersely, and the moment it was loaded, she nodded at the taxi-driver.
Take them wherever they want to go., Camel sat owl-eyed in her seat, but jumbo leaned out of the rear window waving and blowing kisses at Shasa until the taxi disappeared through the gates of the airfield, and Shasa bowed his head and waited for his mother's icy sarcasm.
Did you have a good trip, darling? Centaine asked sweetly, holding up her face to be kissed, and the two girls were never mentioned again.
Marvellous! Shasa's kiss was full of gratitude and relief and genuine pleasure at being with her again, and he began to tell her all about it, but she cut him off, Cheri!! she said. Right now I Want you to arrange for the Rapide to be refuelled and checked. We are flying up to Johannesburg tomorrow. In Johannesburg they stayed at the Carlton. Centaine owned thirty percent of the equity in the hotel company, and the royal suite was at her disposal whenever she was in town.
The hotel would soon be in need of major renovation, but it occupied a prime position in the centre of Johannesburg.
While she dressed for dinner, Centaine weighed the possibility of having the old building pulled down and redeveloping the site, She would have her architects prepare a report, she decided, as she put business out of her mind and devoted the rest of the evening and all of her attention to Blaine.
Taking a silly chance of alerting the gossips, she and Blaine danced until two in the morning in the nightclub on the top floor of the hotel.
The next day Blaine had a full series of meetings at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, his excuse to Isabella for leaving Cape Town, so Centaine could spend the day with Shasa. In the morning there was a sale of yearlings at the showgrounds, but the prices were ridiculously high and they ended up without having bought a single animal. They lunched at the East African pavilion, where, more than the food, Centaine enjoyed the envious and speculative glances of the women at the surrounding tables.
in the afternoon they went to the zoo. Between feeding the monkeys and rowing on the lake, they discussed Shasa's plans for the future and she was delighted to learn that he had lost none of his determination to take up his duties and responsibilities with Courtney Mining and Finance as soon as he had obtained his Master's degree.
They arrived back at the Carlton with plenty of time to change for the boxing. Blaine, already in his dinner jacket, held a whisky and soda in his hand and he sprawled in one of the armchairs and watched Centaine complete her toilet.
She enjoyed that. It was playing at being married again, and she called him to hook in her ear-rings and then paraded for his approval, pirouetting to spread her long skirts.
I have never been to a boxing match before, Blaine. Aren't we terribly over-dressed? I assure you that black tie is de rigueur. oh God, I'm so nervous. I don't know what I'm going to say to him, even if I get a chance, she broke off. You did manage to get tickets, didn't you? He showed them to her and smiled. Front row, and I have arranged for a car and driver. Shasa drifted into the suite with a white silk scarf draped casually over the shoulders of his dinner jacket, and his black tie minutely and artfully asymmetrical so that it could never be mistaken for one of the modern clip-on monstrosities.
He looks so magnificent. Centaine's heart swelled at the sight of him. How ever am I going to preserve him from the harpies? He kissed her before going to the cabinet and pouring her customary glass of champagne.
Can I freshen your whisky, sir? he asked Blaine.
Thanks, but one is my limit, Shasa, Blaine declined, and Shasa poured himself a dry ginger-ale. That was one thing she didn't have to worry about, Centaine thought, liquor would never be one of Shasa's weaknesses.
Well, Mater, Shasa raised his glass, here's to your newfound interest in the gentlemanly art of boxing. Are you versed in the general objectives of the game? I think two young men get into a ring and try to kill each other, is that right! That, Centaine, is exactly right, Blaine laughed. He never used an endearment in front of Shasa, and not for the first time she wondered what Shasa thought of her and Blaine.
He must suspect, surely, but she had enough to worry about this evening without opening that dark door. She drank her champagne and then, gorgeous in diamonds and silks, on the arms of the two most important men in her world, she swept out to the waiting limousine.
