smile, and the light in her brown and gold eyes changed.
She stared into Centaine's dark wild honey eyes and she challenged her. It was as clear to Centaine as if she had stripped off one of her elbow-length gloves with its embroidered seed pearls and struck Centaine in the mouth with it.
You silly little thing, you shouldn't have done that. All Centaine's noble resolutions crumbled before that gaze. I was ready to let you keep him, I truly was. But if you want to fight for him, well then, so do U And she stared back at Isabella and silently took up her challenge.
The dinner was a resounding success. Centaine had carefully vetted the menu but had not trusted her chef with either the dressing for the rock lobster or the sauce for the roast sirloin and had prepared both of these with her own hands. They drank champagne with the lobster and a marvelous velvety Richebourg with the sirloin.
Abe and Blaine were relieved and delighted that Isabella and Centaine were being so utterly charming and considerate to each other. It was obvious that they would become close friends. Centaine included the crippled girl in almost every remark she made, and was solicitous of Isabella's comfort, herself arranging cushions at her back or feet.
Centaine's stories were self-mocking and entertaining as she made light of how she had survived the dreadful crossing of the dune lands, widowed and pregnant, with only wild Bushmen as companions.
How brave of you. Isabella Malcomess got the point of the story.
I am sure there are very few women who would have had your resourcefulness and strength. Colonel Malcomess, can I prevail on you to carve the roast. Sometimes being a woman alone does have its drawbacks. There are things that only a man does well, wouldn't you agree, Mrs Malcomess? Rachel Abrahams sat quietly and apprehensively. She was the only one apart from the two principals who understood what was happening, and her sympathy was all with Isabella Malcomess, for she could imagine her own little nest and nestlings being threatened by a circling predator.
You have two daughters, Mrs Malcomess? Centaine asked sweetlv. 'Tara and Mathilda Janine, such pretty names. She let her rival know that she had done her researches thoroughly. But you must find it difficult to cope, girls being always much more of a handful than boys? Rachel Abrahams, at the end of the table, winced. With a single light flick oi the blade Centaine had pointed up Isabellas disability and her failure to provide a son and heir for her husband.
Oh, I have plenty of time to devote to my domestic duties, Isabella assured her, not being in trade, as it Were.
And the girls are such darlings, they are devoted to their father, of course.
Isabella
was a skilled duellist. Trade was a word that made Centaine's aristocratic blood seethe behind her concerned smile, and it was a master stroke to link the girls so securely to Blaine. Centaine had seen his doting expression at mention of them. She turned to him and changed the subject to Politics.
Recently General Smuts was a guest at Weltevreden, my Cape home. He is deeply concerned by the growth of secret militant societies amongst the lower classes of Afrikaner-dom. In particular the so-called Ossewa-Brantlwag and the Afrikaner Broederbond, the best translation of which would be the 'Nightguard of the Wagon Train' and the 'Afrikaner
Brotherhoods. I also feel they are highly dangerous and prejudicial to the nation's best interests. Do you share this concern, Colonel Malcomess? Indeed, Mrs Courtney, I have made a special study of these phenomena. But I do not think that you are correct in saying these secret societies include the lower classes of Afrikanerdom. quite the opposite. The membership is restricted to pure-blooded Afrikaners in positions of potential or actual influence in politics, government, religion and education. However, I agree with your conclusions. They are dangerous, more dangerous than most people realize, for their ultimate aim is to gain control of every facet of our lives, from the minds of the young to the machinery of justice and government, and to prefer their members above all consideration of merit or worth. In many ways this movement is the counterpart of the rising wave of National Socialism in Germany under Herr Hitler. Centaine leaned across the table to enjoy every nuance and inflection of his voice, encouraging him with question or shrewd sharp comment. With that voice, she thought, he could sway me and a million voters. Then she realized that the two of them were behaving as if they were the only ones at the table and she returned quickly to Isabella.
Would you agree with your husband on that, Mrs Malcomess,' and Blaine laughed indulgently and answered for her.
I'm afraid my wife finds politics a total bore, don't you, my dear And I'm not sure that she isn't very perceptive in that belief. He drew a gold watch from the fob pocket of his dinner jacket.
it is after midnight. I have enjoyed myself so hugely that we have overstayed our welcome, I'm sure. You are right, darling. Isabella was relieved and eager to end it. Tara has been sickly. She complained of a stomach ache before we left. Tara, the little vixen, always complains of a stomach ache when she knows we are going out, he chuckled, but they all rose.
I won't let you go without the solace of a brandy and a cigar, Centaine demurred. Although I refuse to accept the barbaric custom of leaving the men to those pleasures alone while we poor females gather to giggle and talk babies so we will all go through to the saloon together. However, as she led them through, her secretary was hovering nervously.
Yes, what is it? She was annoyed until she saw that he was holding a telegraph flimsy like a warrant for his own execution.
From Dr TWentyman-Jones, ma'am, and it's urgent. She accepted the flimsy but did not unfold it until she had made sure that her guests had coffee and liqueurs and that both Blaine and Abe were each armed with a Havana.
Then she excused herself and slipped through to her bedroom.
For Juno. Strike committee headed by Gerhard Fourie has called out all white employees. Stop. Plant and pit under picket lines and shipment of goods embargoed. Stop.
Strikers demanding reinstatement of all retrenched white employees and guaranteed job security for all. Stop.
Request your instructions. Ends. Vingt.
