Master of the Game

Cheltenham School was unbearable. There were rules and regulations for everything. The girls had to wear identical uniforms, down to their knickers. The school day was ten hours long, and every minute was rigidly structured. Mrs. Keaton ruled the pupils and her staff with a rod of iron. The girls were there to learn manners and discipline, etiquette and decorum, so that they could one day attract desirable husbands.

Kate wrote her mother, “It’s a bloody prison. The girls here are awful. All they ever talk about are bloody clothes and bloody boys. The bloody teachers are monsters. They’ll never keep me here. I’m going to escape.”

Kate managed to run away from the school three times, and each time she was caught and brought back, unrepentant.

At a weekly staff meeting, when Kate’s name was brought up, one of the teachers said, “The child is uncontrollable. I think we should send her back to South Africa.”

Mrs. Keaton replied, “I’m inclined to agree with you, but let’s look upon it as a challenge. If we can succeed in disciplining Kate McGregor, we can succeed in disciplining anyone.”

Kate remained in school.

To the amazement of her teachers, Kate became interested in the farm that the school maintained. The farm had vegetable gardens, chickens, cows, pigs and horses. Kate spent as much time as possible there, and when Mrs. Keaton learned of this, she was immensely pleased.

“You see,” the headmistress told her staff, “it was simply a question of patience. Kate has finally found her interest in life. One day she will marry a landowner and be of enormous assistance to him.”

The following morning, Oscar Denker, the man in charge of running the farm, came to see the headmistress. “One of your students,” he said, “that Kate McGregor—I wish you’d keep her away from my farm.”

“Whatever are you talking about?” Mrs. Keaton asked. “I happen to know she’s very interested.”

“Sure she is, but do you know what she’s interested in? The animals fornicating, if you’ll excuse my language.”

“What?”

“That’s right. She stands around all day, just watching the animals do it to each other.”

“Bloody hell!” Mrs. Keaton said.

Kate still had not forgiven David for sending her into exile, but she missed him terribly. It’s my fate, she thought gloomily, to be in love with a man I hate. She counted the days she was away from him, like a prisoner marking time until the day of release. Kate was afraid he would do something dreadful, like marry another woman while she was trapped in the bloody school. If he does, Kate thought, I’ll kill them both. No. I’ll just kill her. They’ll arrest me and hang me, and when I’m on the gallows, he’ll realize that he loves me. But it will be too late. He’ll beg me to forgive him. “Yes, David, my darling, I forgive you. You were too foolish to know when you held a great love in the palm of your hand. You let it fly away like a little bird. Now that little bird is about to be hanged. Good-bye, David.” But at the last minute she would be reprieved and David would take her in his arms and carry her off to some exotic country where the food was better than the bloody slop they served at bloody Cheltenham.

Kate received a note from David saying he was going to be in London and would come to visit her. Kate’s imagination was inflamed. She found a dozen hidden meanings in his note. Why was he going to be in England? To be near her, of course. Why was he coming to visit her? Because he finally knew he loved her and could not bear to be away from her any longer. He was going to sweep her off her feet and take her out of this terrible place. She could scarcely contain her happiness. Kate’s fantasy was so real that the day David arrived, Kate went around saying good-bye to her classmates. “My lover is coming to take me out of here,” she told them.

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.

“This is one of the company’s most profitable mines,” David told Kate. They were above ground in the manager’s office, waiting for an escort to take them down into the mine. Against one wall was a showcase filled with diamonds of all colors and sizes.

“Each diamond has a distinct characteristic,” David explained. “The original diamonds from the banks of the Vaal are alluvial, and their sides are worn down from the abrasion of centuries.”

He’s more handsome than ever, Kate thought. I love his eyebrows.

“These stones all come from different mines, but they can be easily identified by their appearance. See this one? You can tell by the size and yellow cast that it comes from Paardspan. De Beers’s diamonds have an oily-looking surface and are dodecahedral in shape.”

He’s brilliant. He knows everything.

“You can tell this one is from the mine at Kimberley because it’s an octahedron. Their diamonds range from smoky-glassy to pure white.”

I wonder if the manager thinks David is my lover. I hope so.

“The color of a diamond helps determine its value. The colors are named on a scale of one to ten. At the top is the tone blue-white, and at the bottom is the draw, which is a brown color.”

He smells so wonderful. It’s such a—such a male smell. I love his arms and shoulders. I wish—

“Kate!”

She said guiltily, “Yes, David?”

“Are you listening to me?”

“Of course I am.” There was indignation in her voice. “I’ve heard every word.”

They spent the next two hours in the bowels of the mine, and then had lunch. It was Kate’s idea of a heavenly day.

When Kate returned home late in the afternoon, Margaret said, “Did you enjoy yourself?”

“It was wonderful. Mining is really fascinating.”

Half an hour later, Margaret happened to glance out the window. Kate was on the ground wrestling with the son of one of the gardeners.

The following year, Kate’s letters from school were cautiously optimistic. She had been made captain of the hockey and lacrosse teams, and was at the head of her class scholastically. The school was not really all that bad, she wrote, and there were even a few girls in her classes who were reasonably nice. She asked permission to bring two of her friends home for the summer vacation, and Margaret was delighted. The house would be alive again with the sound of youthful laughter. She could not wait for her daughter to come home. Her dreams were all for Kate now. Jamie and I are the past, Maggie thought. Kate is the future. And what a wonderful, bright future it will be!

When Kate was home during her vacation, all the eligible young men of Klipdrift flocked around besieging her for dates, but Kate was not interested in any of them. David was in America, and she impatiently awaited his return. When he came to the house, Kate greeted him at the door. She wore a white dress circled in by a black velvet belt that accentuated her lovely bosom. When David embraced her, he was astonished by the warmth of her response. He drew back and looked at her. There was something different about her, something knowing. There was an expression in her eyes he could not define, and it made him vaguely uneasy.

The few times David saw Kate during that vacation she was surrounded by boys, and he found himself wondering which would be the lucky one. David was called back to Australia on business, and when he returned to Klipdrift, Kate was on her way to England.

In Kate’s last year of school, David appeared unexpectedly one evening. Usually his visits were preceded by a letter or a telephone call. This time there had been no warning.

“David! What a wonderful surprise!” Kate hugged him. “You should have told me you were coming. I would have—”

“Kate, I’ve come to take you home.”

She pulled back and looked up at him. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m afraid your mother is very ill.”

Kate stood stark still for a moment. “I’ll get ready.”

Kate was shocked by her mother’s appearance. She had seen her only a few months earlier, and Margaret had seemed to be in robust health. Now she was pale and emaciated, and the bright spirit had gone out of her eyes. It was as though the cancer that was eating at her flesh had also eaten at her soul.

Kate sat at the side of the bed and held her mother’s hand in hers. “Oh, Mother,” she said. “I’m so bloody sorry.”

Margaret squeezed her daughter’s hand. “I’m ready, darling. I suppose I’ve been ready ever since your father died.” She looked up at Kate. “Do you want to hear something silly? I’ve never told this to a living soul before.” She hesitated, then went on. “I’ve always been worried that there was no one to take proper care of your father. Now I can do it.”

Margaret was buried three days later. Her mother’s death shook Kate deeply. She had lost her father and a brother, but she had never known them; they were only storied figments of the past. Her mother’s death was real and painful. Kate was eighteen years old and suddenly alone in the world, and the thought of that was frightening.

David watched her standing at her mother’s graveside, bravely fighting not to cry. But when they returned to the house, Kate broke down, unable to stop sobbing. “She was always so w-wonderful to me, David, and I was such a r-rotten daughter.”

David tried to console her. “You’ve been a wonderful daughter, Kate.”

“I was n-nothing b-but trouble. I’d give anything if I could m-make it up to her. I didn’t want her to die, David! Why did God do this to her?”

He waited, letting Kate cry herself out. When she was calmer, David said, “I know it’s hard to believe now, but one day this pain will go away. And you know what you’ll be left with, Kate? Happy memories. You’ll remember all the good things you and your mother had.”

“I suppose so. Only right now it hurts so b-bloody much.”

The following morning they discussed Kate’s future.

“You have family in Scotland,” David reminded her.

“No!” Kate replied sharply. “They’re not family. They’re relatives.” Her voice was bitter. “When Father wanted to come to this country, they laughed at him. No one would help him except his mother, and she’s dead. No. I won’t have anything to do with them.”

David sat there thinking. “Do you plan to finish out the school term?” Before Kate could answer, David went on. “I think your mother would have wanted you to.”

“Then I’ll do it.” She looked down at the floor, her eyes unseeing. “Bloody hell,” Kate said.

“I know,” David said gently. “I know.”

Kate finished the school term as class valedictorian, and David was there for the graduation.

Riding from Johannesburg to Klipdrift in the private railway car, David said, “You know, all this will belong to you in a few years. This car, the mines, the company—it’s yours. You’re a very rich young woman. You can sell the company for many millions of pounds.” He looked at her and added, “Or you can keep it. You’ll have to think about it.”

“I have thought about it,” Kate told him. She looked at him and smiled. “My father was a pirate, David. A wonderful old pirate. I wish I could have known him. I’m not going to sell this company. Do you know why? Because the pirate named it after two guards who were trying to kill him. Wasn’t that a lovely thing to do? Sometimes at night when I can’t sleep, I think about my father and Banda crawling through the sea mis, and I can hear the voices of the guards: Kruger…Brent…” She looked up at David. “No, I’ll never sell my father’s company. Not as long as you’ll stay on and run it.”

David said quietly, “I’ll stay as long as you need me.”

“I’ve decided to enroll in a business school.”

“A business school?” There was surprise in his voice.

“This is 1910,” Kate reminded him. “They have business schools in Johannesburg where women are allowed to attend.”

“But—”

“You asked me what I wanted to do with my money.” She looked him in the eye and said, “I want to earn it.”