The Burning Shore

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 cu

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.

A

I do wish you would sit down to di

A

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 A

The scar on your leg is healing well, but you are still so brown, A

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, A

You don't understand, I was sick. Don't you remember when I had pneumonia I also missed- Not since the desert! A

No A

A

I never trusted him, with his cat's eyes and yellow hair and that great bulge in his breeches, A

He forced you, my baby, didn't he? Tell A

I was so lonely. Centaine sank down on to the stool and covered her face with her hands. I had not seen another white person for almost two years, and he was so kind and beautiful, and I owed him my life. Don't you understand, A

You ca

We ca

They have taken one, but Mijnheer and the general could not take another. For the sake of all of us, Michael's family and Shasa, for yourself, for all those whom I love, there is no choice in the matter. You must get rid of it."A

Then get rid of his brat before it destroys you and Shasa and all of us.

The di

The tall elderly man beside her droned on in a particularly rasping and irritating tone, directing his monologue almost exclusively at Centaine. His bald head had been turned by the sun to the colour of a plover's egg, but his eyes were strangely lifeless, like those of a marble statue.

Centaine could not concentrate on what he was saying, and it became unintelligible as though he were speaking an unknown language. Her mind wandered off to pluck and worry at this new threat that had loomed up suddenly, a threat to her entire existence and that of her son.

She knew that A

She jumped in her seat and almost screamed aloud.

Below the level of the di

Excuse me, Papa. She pushed back her chair hurriedly, and Garry looked down the length of the table with concern. I must go through for a moment, and she fled into the kitchen.