The girls looked at her in silent disbelief. All except Georgina Christy, who scoffed, "You're lying again, Kate McGregor."
"Just wait and see. He's tall and handsome, and he's mad about me."
When David arrived, he was puzzled by the fact that all the girls in the school seemed to be staring at him. They looked at him and whispered and giggled, and the minute they caught his eye, they blushed and turned away.
"They act as though they've never seen a man before," David told Kate. He looked at her suspiciously. "Have you been saying anything about me?"
"Of course not," Kate said haughtily. "Why would I do that?"
They ate in the school's large dining room, and David brought Kate up to date on everything that was happening at home. "Your mother sends her love. She's expecting you home for the summer holiday."
"How is mother?"
"She's fine. She's working hard."
"Is the company doing well, David?"
He was surprised by her sudden interest. "It's doing very well. Why?"
Because, Kate thought, someday it will belong to me, and you and I will share it. "I was just curious."
He looked at her untouched plate. "You're not eating."
Kate was not interested in food. She was waiting for the magic moment, the moment when David would say, "Come away with me, Kate. You're a woman now, and I want you. We're going to be married."
The dessert came and went. Coffee came and went, and still no magic words from David.
It was not until he looked at his watch and said, "Well, I'd better be going or I'll miss my train," that Kate realized with a feeling of horror that he had not come to take her away at all. The bastard was going to leave her there to rot!
David had enjoyed his visit with Kate. She was a bright and amusing child, and the waywardness she had once shown was now under control. David patted Kate's hand fondly and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you before I leave, Kate?"
She looked him in the eye and said sweetly, "Yes, David, there is. You can do me an enormous favor. Get out of my bloody life!" And she walked out of the room with great dignity, her head held high, leaving him sitting there, mouth agape.
Margaret found that she missed Kate. The girl was unruly and contrary, but Margaret realized that she was the only living person she loved. She's going to be a great woman, Margaret thought with pride. But I want her to have the manners of a lady.
Kate came home for summer vacation. "How are you getting along in school?" Margaret asked.
"I hate it! It's like being surrounded by a hundred nannies."
Margaret studied her daughter. "Do the other girls feel the same way, Kate?"
"What do they know?" she said contemptuously. "You should see the girls at that school! They've been sheltered all their lives. They don't know a damn thing about life."
"Oh, dear," Margaret said. "That must be awful for you."
"Don't laugh at me, please. The've never even been to South Africa. The only animals they've seen have been in zoos. None of them has ever seen a diamond mine or a gold mine."
"Underprivileged."
Kate said, "All right. But when I turn out like them, you're going to be bloody sorry."
"Do you think you'll turn out like them?"
Kate grinned wickedly. "Of course not! Are you mad?"
An hour after Kate arrived home, she was outside playing rugby with the children of the servants. Margaret watched her through the window and thought, I'm wasting my money. She's never going to change.
That evening, at dinner, Kate asked casually, "Is David in town?"
"He's been in Australia. He'll be back tomorrow, I think."
"Is he coming to dinner Friday night?"
"Probably." She studied Kate and said, "You like David, don't you?"
She shrugged. "He's all right, I suppose."
"I see," Margaret said. She smiled to herself as she remembered Kate's vow to marry David.
"I don't dislike him, Mother. I mean, I like him as a human being. I just can't stand him as a man."
When David arrived for dinner Friday night, Kate flew to the door to greet him. She hugged him and whispered in his ear, "I forgive you. Oh, I've missed you so much, David! Have you missed me?"
Automatically he said, "Yes." And then he thought with astonishment, By God, I have missed her. He had never known anyone like this child. He had watched her grow up, and each time he encountered her she was a revelation to him. She was almost sixteen years old and she had started to fill out. She had let her black hair grow long, and it fell softly over her shoulders. Her features had matured, and there was a sensuality about her that he had not noticed before. She was a beauty, with a quick intelligence and a strong will. She's going to be a handful for some man, David thought.
At dinner David asked, "How are you getting along in school, Kate?"
"Oh, I just love it," she gushed. "I'm really learning a lot. The teachers are wonderful, and I've made a lot of great friends."
Margaret sat in stunned silence.
"David, will you take me to the mines with you?"
"Is that how you want to waste your vacation?"
"Yes, please."
A trip down into the mines took a full day, and that meant she would be with David all that time.
"If your mother says it's all right - "
"Please, mother!"
"All right, darling. As long as you're with David, I know you'll be safe." Margaret hoped David would be safe.
The Kruger-Brent Diamond Mine near Bloemfontein was a gigantic operation, with hundreds of workers engaged in digging, engineering, washing or sorting.