rose petal, and smelled as sweet. Storm, demure for once, stood
between them.
Dirk was not there-Sean had found work for him on the far side of Lion
Kop. Many sly eyes and snide sallies remarked his absence Ronny Pye
had persuaded Garry not to wear his uniform.
Anna was with him, pretty in mauve and artificial flowers. It was only
at closer range that the ugly little lines around her mouth and eyes,
and the gray hairs that were woven into the shiny black mass of her
hair showed up. Neither she nor Garry let their eyes wander across the
square.
Michael arrived and spoke first with his father, kissed his mother
dutifully, then crossed to resume the argument Sean had broken off the
night before. Michael wanted Sean to buy ten thousand acres of the
coastal lowlands around Tongaat and plant it to sugar-cane. Within a
few minutes he realized that this was not the best time to push his
idea; Sean greeted each of his points with hearty laughter and offered
him a cigar. Discouraged but not resigned, Michael went into the
ballot office and, settling his problem of divided loyalty,
deliberately spoiled his paper.
Then he returned to his office at the wattle factory to whip his sugar
estimates into shape for the next attack on Sean.
Ada Courtney never left the Protea Street cottage all that day.
She had steadfastly denied appeals to join either camp, and refused to
allow any of her girls to help in the preparations. She had prohibited
any political discussion in her house-and ordered Sean to leave when he
had disregarded this rule. Only after Ruth had interceded and Sean had
made an abject apology, was he allowed to return. She disapproved of
the whole business and considered it undignified and common that
members of her family should not only be standing for public office but
actually competing for it. Her deep distrust of and contempt for
officialdom stemmed from the time the Village Board had wanted to place
street lamps along Protea Street.
She had attended their next meeting armed with an umbrella, and in vain
they had tried to convince her that street lights did not attract
mosquitoes.
However, Ada was the only person in the district who did not attend.
From midmorning until polling closed at five o'clock the square was
jammed solid with humanity, and when the sealed ballot boxes were borne
in state to the railway station, many of them climbed on the same train
and went up to Pieten-naritzburg for the official counting.
It had been a day of unremitting nervous tension, so a very short time
after entering their suite in the White Horse Hotel, Ruth and Sean fell
into exhausted sleep in each other's arms.
When, in the early morning a brilliant electrical storm raged down upon
the town, Ruth moved restlessly in her sleep, coming slowly back to
consciousness-and to the realization that she and Sean were already
engaged in the business that had been delayed so long. Sean woke at
the same time and, for the few seconds that it took him to understand
what was happening, was as bewildered as she-then both of them went to
it with a will.
