debts.'Oh, poor Papa. They had presumed that you were dead, my dear, and the sale was ordered by a French court. I understand The lawyer read of your rescue in a Parisian paper, and has written to me explaining the situation. Unfortunately the Comte de Thiry's debts were considerable, and as you are too well aware, the chateau and its contents were destroyed in the fire. The lawyer has set out an accounting, and after all the debts were paid and the legal expenses including this fellow's not inconsiderable fees, were deducted, there is very little that remains to you. Centaine's healthy acquisitive instincts were aroused. How much, Papa? she asked sharply.
A little less than 2,000 sterling, I'm afraid. He will send a bank draft when we return the acknowledgement to him duly signed and attested. Fortunately I am a commissioner of oaths, so we can do the business privately. When the draft finally arrived, Centaine deposited the most part with the Ladyburg Bank at 3,- percent interest, indulging only her new passion for speed. She used 120 pounds to buy herself a T model Ford, resplendent in brass and glistening black paintwork, and when for the first time she tore up the driveway of Theuniskraal at thirty miles per hour, the entire household turned out to admire the machine. Even Garry Courtney hurried from the library, his gold-rimmed spectacles pushed up on top of his head, and it was the first time he ever chided her.
You must consult me, my dear, before you do these things, I will not have you squandering your own savings. I am your provider, and besides which- he looked lugubrious -I was looking forward to buying you a motor-car for your next birthday. You have gone and spoiled my plans Oh, Papa, do forgive me. You have given us so much already, and we love you for it. It was true. She had come to love this gentle person in many ways as she had loved her own father, but in some ways even more strongly, for her feelings towards him were bolstered by growing respect for and awareness of his unvaunted talents and his hidden qualities, his deep humanity and his fortitude in the face of a fate that had deprived him of a limb, a wife and a son, and had withheld from him until this late hour a loving family.
He treated her like- the mistress of his household, and this evening he was discussing the guest-list for the dinner-party they were planning.
I must warn you about this fellow Robinson. I gave myself pause before inviting him, I'll tell you! Her mind had been on these other things, however, not on the invitation list, and she started.
I am so sorry, Papa, she apologized, I did not hear what you were saying. I am afraid I was dreaming. Dear me, Garry smiled at her. I thought I was the only dreamer in the family. I was warning you about our guest of honour. Garry liked to entertain twice a month, not more often, and there were always ten dinner guests, never more.
I like to hear what everybody has to say, he explained. Hate to miss a good story at the end of the table. He had a discerning palate and had accumulated one of the finest cellars in the country. He had stolen his Zulu chef from the Country Club in Durban, so his invitations were sought after even though acceptance usually involved a train journey and an overnight stay at Theuniskraal.
This fellow Joseph Robinson may have a baronetcy, which in many cases is the mark of an unprincipled scoundrel too cunning to have been caught out, he may have more money than even old Cecil John ever accumulated - the Robinson Deep and Robinson Goldmine belong to him, as does the Robinson Bank, but he is as mean as any man I've ever met. He'll spend $10,000 on a painting and grudge a starving man a penny. He is also a bully and the greediest most heartless man I've ever met. When the prime minister first tried to get a peerage for him, there was such an outcry that he had to drop the idea.'If he is so awful, why do we invite him, papa? Garry sighed theatrically. A price I have to pay for my art, my dear. I am going to try to prise from the fellow a few facts that I need for my new book. He is the only living person who can give them to me.'Do you want me to charm him for you? Oh no, no! We don't have to go that far, but you could wear a pretty dress, I suppose. Centaine chose the yellow taffeta with the embroidered seed-pearl bodice that exposed her shoulders, still lightly tanned by the desert sun. As always, Anna was there to prepare her hair and help her dress for the dinner.
Centaine came through from her private bathroom, which was one of the great luxuries of her new life, with a bathrobe wrapped around her still-damp body and a hand towel around her head. She left wet footprints on the yellow wood floor as she crossed to her dressing-table.
Anna, who was seated on the bed restitching the hook and eye on the back of the yellow dress, bit off the thread, spat it out and mumbled, I have let it out three full centimetres. Too many of these fancy dinner-parties, young lady. She laid out the dress with care and came to stand behind Centaine.
I do wish you would sit down to dinner with us, Centaine grumbled. You aren't a servant here. Centaine would have had to be blind not to have realized the relationship that was flourishing between Garry and Anna. So far, however, she had not found an opportunity of discussing it, though she longed to share Anna's joy, if only vicariously.
Anna seized the silver-backed brush and attacked Centaine's hair with long powerful strokes which jerked her head backwards.
You want me to waste my time listening to a lot of fancy folk hissing away like a gaggle of geese? She imitated the sibilance of the English tongue so cleverly that Centaine giggled delightedly. No, thank you, I can't understand a word of that clever chatter and old Anna is a lot happier and more useful in the kitchen keeping an eye on those grinning black rogues. Papa Garry so wants you to join the company, he's spoken to me ever so often. I think he is becoming so fond of you. Anna pursed her lipsand snorted. That's enough of that nonsense, young lady, she said firmly, as she set down the brush and arranged the fine yellow net over Centaine's hair, capturing its springing curls in the spangled mesh set with yellow sequins. Pas mal! She stood back and nodded critical approval. Now for the dress. She went to fetch it from the bed, while Centaine stood up and slipped the bathrobe from her shoulders. She let it fall to the floor and stood naked before the mirror.
The scar on your leg is healing well, but you are still so brown, Anna lamented, and then broke off and stood with the yellow dress half-extended, frowning thoughtfully, staring at Centaine.
Centaine' Her voice was sharp. When did you last see your moon? she demanded, and Centaine stooped and snatched up the fallen robe, covering herself with it defensively.
I was sick, Anna. The blow on my head, and the infection. How long since your last moon? Anna was remorseless.
You don't understand, I was sick. Don't you remember when I had pneumonia I also missed- Not since the desert! Anna answered her own question. Not since you came out of the desert with that German, that cross-breed German Afrikaner. She threw the dress on to the bed and pulled the covering robe away from Centaine's body.
No Anna, I was sick. Centaine was trembling. Up to that minute she had truly closed her mind against the awful possibility that Anna now presented.
Anna placed her big callused hand on Centaine's belly, and she cringed from the touch.
I never trusted him, with his cat's eyes and yellow hair and that great bulge in his breeches, Anna muttered furiously. Now I understand why you would not speak to him when we left, why you treated him like an enemy, not a saviour. Anna, I have missed before. It could be- He raped you, my poor child! He violated you! You could not help
