district. The flood of invitations he released sent women to their
wardrobes and sewing, baskets, while the outlying farmers begged
accommodation from relatives and friends nearer town. Other leading
members of the community, jealous of their social status, rode out to
Lion Kop with others to provide entertainment on those three days of
the week which Sean had left empty. Reluctantly Sean agreed, he had
private Plans for those three days.
Ada and her girls were inundated with orders for new clothing, but they
still made one afternoon free and came up to the Lion Kop homestead
armed with brooms and dusters and tins of polish. Sean and Dirk were
driven from the house. They spent that afternoon riding over Sean's
estate, looking for the best place to hold the big bush, buck shoot
which would be the climax of the week.
With a gang of his Zulus, Mbejane hacked down the jungle of undergrowth
around the homestead and dug the barbecue pits.
The Village Management Board met in secret conclave, infected by the
general excitement and armed with strict instructions from their wives,
they voted unanimously for a civic reception of Ruth Friedman at the
station and a formal Ball that night. Dennis Petersen, who had Sean's
consent to a barbecue on the night of Ruth's arrival, was placated with
the promise that he would be allowed to make a short speech of welcome
at the station.
Sean called upon Ronny Pye and was again surprised when Ronny agreed
cheerfully to a further loan of one thousand pounds. Ronny signed the
cheque with the satisfied air of a spider putting the final thread into
his web, and Sean left immediately for Pietermaritzburg to visit a
jeweller. He returned home five hundred pounds poorer, with a packet
in his breast pocket that contained a huge square, cut diamond set in a
band of platinum. Dirk was at the station to meet him. Sean took one
look at him and ordered him to the village barber.
The night before Ruth's arrival Sean and Mbejane fell upon Dirk in a
surprise attack and dragged him protesting to the bathroom. Sean was
astounded by the large quantities of foreign matter that he removed
from Dirk's ears, and by the way in which Dirk's suntan dissolved so
readily under an application of soap.
The following morning as her railway coach ground to a jerky halt in
front of the station building, Ruth looked down on a mass of strangers
surrounding the roped, off area in front of her. Only one family was
not represented in the crowd, which included the young ladies and
gentlemen of Ladyburg High School in their church clothes.
She stood uncertainly on the balcony of the coach and heard the hum of
appreciative comment and speculation. Ruth had relieved the plain
black mourning with a wide ribbon of pink around the crown of her hat,
pink gloves and gauzy pink veil, which shrouded her firm in a misty and
mystmions fashion. It was very effective.
Convinced that there was some misunderstanding, Ruth was about to
withdraw into the coach, when she noticed a deputation approaching
along the roped, off passageway. It was headed by Sean and she
recognized the thunderous scowl he wore as his expression of acute
