Dangerous Friendship

by Anne Hampson

  ‘How can this be, Mr Westbrook?’

  ‘It’s your character which propels you into action. Had your character not been what it is, you’d never have conceived the idea of creating something really beautiful from this—’ Kane stopped and spread a hand, embracing the whole sad scene of years of neglect. ‘This wilderness.’

  ‘I agree there, but what has that to do with destiny?’

  There was a long moment of silence before Kane spoke again. She had time to glance up into his unsmiling face, being curious to read something from his expression. She failed utterly; his eyes seemed almost vacant, and even his mouth was relaxed.

  ‘People like or dislike you according to your character,’ he said at last. And then he abruptly changed the subject, reverting to the projected improvements to the garden, and Lena was left with the vexing question: had Kane been telling her, in his own subtle way, that he liked her?

  As if triggered off by a nerve-sent signal set up in her brain, the question was to repeat itself over and over again during the next few days.

  ***

  When June heard that Jennifer was coming to stay at Koranna Lodge, she immediately decided to give a dinner party as a welcoming gesture for the girl.

  ‘You’ll like Jennifer,’ she told Lena. ‘She’s nineteen, auburn-haired and very attractive in a horsey sort of a way—if you know what I mean?’

  ‘June means that Jennifer likes horses,’ interjected Gerald teasingly, ‘not that she resembles a good-looking horse.’

  Lena laughed.

  ‘You’re friendly with her, obviously?’ she said to June.

  ‘Yes; she’s a likeable girl. I think you and she will get along excellently together.’

  Jennifer rode over to Mtula Farm a few hours after her arrival at her cousin’s house. Lena received her, June and Gerald having gone into Fonteinville to do some shopping. Lena had been invited to accompany them in the station wagon, but, fired as she was with enthusiasm for the garden, she had declined, preferring to be more profitably employed. Helping her with the heavy work was one of the boys whom Gerald had said could spend two or three hours daily in the garden, a circumstance which delighted the boy, whose name was Hendrik, since it seemed to set him a little above the other boys working on the farm. Lena and Hendrik were working away, clearing a piece of land of its covering of weedy opeslak, when, glancing up, Lena saw the girl ride into the yard and stop by the back door. Straightening up, Lena walked over, a smile on her lips.

  ‘You’re Miss Ridgeway,’ said Jennifer before Lena could speak. ‘Happy to meet you,’ she added, slipping down from the horse. ‘I’m Jennifer Westbrook—cousin to the great man along the road, there,’ she went on with that particular kind of humour which left Lena in no doubt at all that June was right when she made the prediction that Lena would get along with Kane’s cousin.

  ‘I’m sorry, but June and Gerald aren’t in.’ Lena gestured towards the stoep. ‘But come and have a drink; they shouldn’t be long. They’ve gone into town to do some shopping.’

  ‘Thanks. I’d like some coffee, please.’ With a wholly free and easy manner Jennifer took the steps two at a time, making herself at home as she took possession of one of the rattan chairs. ‘You’re here for a long stay, I believe?’

  Lena stood for a moment regarding the girl, taking in the pretty features, the clear skin, the ready smile appearing in her widely spaced hazel eyes.

  ‘The length of my stay’s indefinite at present,’ Lena answered. ‘I love it here, but I can’t stay on too long.’ Excusing herself, she went off to get the coffee. When she returned Jennifer was standing up, staring out to where Hendrik was still at work on the weeds.

  ‘Kane was saying that you’re making a garden here?’

  ‘That’s right.’ So Kane had been talking about her… ‘I’m becoming so enthusiastic about it that I can scarcely think of anything else.’

  Jennifer laughed and shook her head.

  ‘That sort of work’s not in my line.’ Elegantly she leant back in the chair. ‘The only reason I come to Kane for my holidays is because here I lead the lady’s life—waited on by house girls, and with my appetite catered for by the marvel who turns up the most exquisite meals! Kane has the best cook of anyone around here!’

  ‘So I believe.’ Lena sipped her coffee, marvelling that neither she nor Jennifer had felt any awkwardness at being thrown together like this without either a proper introduction, or the presence of a mutual friend or acquaintance.

  ‘I don’t know if he’ll stay when Magda takes over the housekeeping—’ Jennifer stopped for a moment, and then, ‘You’ve met my cousin’s young lady?’

  ‘Yes; we met at Kane’s barbecue.’

  A small pause followed.

  ‘What do you think of her?’ Having leant forward to pick up her coffee, Jennifer appeared to be disproportionately interested in the milky contents of the cup.

  ‘I can’t pass an opinion, not having had very much to do with her.’

  ‘I wish she’d never come here!’

  Lena looked keenly at her, puzzled by the vehemence of the girl’s words.

  ‘You don’t like Magda?’

  ‘I dislike her intensely.’

  That makes two of us, said Lena, but silently. Aloud she inquired, rather tentatively, if Jennifer had any particular reason for her dislike of her cousin’s girlfriend. Jennifer hesitated over her answer, her regard rather searching as she stared into Lena’s frank brown eyes. Presently, as if having decided she could speak openly to Lena, she confessed that she was jealous of Magda.

  ‘Jealous?’ Lena stared at her. ‘You mean… that you’re… fond of Kane?’

  ‘Fond?’ Jennifer laughed at this. ‘If I wasn’t I wouldn’t be here, would I?’

  ‘Well—no.’

  ‘I’m no longer just fond of him in a cousinly way, Miss—’ Jennifer stopped and a rather comical frown touched her high wide forehead. ‘I can’t call you Miss Ridgeway—even if Kane does. What’s your first name?’

  ‘Lena.’

  ‘Mind if I call you Lena?’

  ‘I’d much rather have it than Miss Ridgeway.’

  ‘Good! And now, where was I? Oh, yes, I was about to tell you that I’m rather too fond of my cousin—he’s my second cousin, by the way,’ she added with a sudden twinkle.

  ‘You’re in love with him?’

  ‘I could be.’

  ‘Could be?’

  ‘If it were any use.’ Lena said nothing and after a thoughtful moment Jennifer went on, ‘Kane would never fall for a scatterbrain like me. He wants someone erudite—like Magda.’

  ‘You don’t appear to be breaking your heart over your failure.’ Lena spoke with a hint of amusement in her voice.

  ‘What good would it do me? I can’t have him, so I might as well resign myself to it. I wish he’d found someone nicer than Magda, though.’

  ‘You believe he’ll marry her.’ Why was that so difficult to voice? wondered Lena. Even now there was a strange little lump at the back of her throat.

  ‘It’s difficult to say. But he’s more interested in her than he’s ever been in any of the other girls he’s had from time to time.’

  ‘He’s had several girl-friends?’

  ‘He’s had four that I know of.’

  Four… Somehow, Lena had gained the impression that Kane had had rather more than that.

  ‘What makes you think he’s more interested in Magda than in any of the others?’ she asked, and she could not help wondering what Kane would think were he to know that he was being discussed like this.

  ‘Well, he’s bought her some lovely jewellery, for one thing.’

  ‘He has?’

  Jennifer nodded her head.

  ‘A gold bracelet and earrings to match. She showed them to me the last time I was here.’

  A gold bracelet and matching earrings. Yes, decided Lena, it certainly did seem that Kane was serious with Magda.

  ‘Were they for her bir
thday, or something?’

  ‘Her birthday, yes.’ Jennifer took a drink of her coffee, then put the cup down on the table. ‘Tell me, Lena, what is your impression of Kane?’

  Guardedly Lena said,

  ‘I haven’t known him long enough to form an impression, Jennifer.’

  ‘Nonsense,’ retorted Jennifer, speaking to Lena as if she had known her for years instead of about half an hour. ‘Every woman who meets my cousin forms an impression!’

  ‘Of his character? That isn’t possible.’

  ‘Of his outward appearance, and his reserve and that air of superiority which he has.’

  ‘I see…’ Speaking in the same guarded tones, Lena answered quietly, ‘I must admit that I noted his good looks, and his unusually splendid physique.’

  ‘You sound quite casual,’ commented Jennifer after a small pause.

  ‘I don’t think I understand?’

  ‘Unemotional,’ returned Jennifer briefly.

  Unemotional… How little the girl knew! However, it was a relief to learn that she was not giving anything away, thought Lena, her eyes suddenly caught by sound and movement in the distance. Gerald’s boys were harrowing the mealies and singing as they worked.

  ‘One can scarcely become emotional about a man one hardly knows.’

  Jennifer looked at her with the most odd expression in her eyes.

  ‘You’re the first woman who hasn’t fallen for Kane on sight.’

  Lena laughed.

  ‘I don’t believe that. Kane has much to attract a woman, but he can’t be every woman’s ideal.’

  ‘Couldn’t you fall in love with him?’

  Startled by the unexpectedness of the question, Lena just stared, maintaining a cautious silence while she carefully chose the words with which to answer the girl.

  ‘I’m not anxious to fall in love at the present,’ she said at length—but suddenly her pulses were racing, and in her heart something quivered. She was remembering his strength—and his gentleness—when he had carried her to the bathroom, then put her into the bath. She recalled the way her emotions could be stirred by his presence; she remembered the admission that friendship with him could be dangerous. ‘I’m too occupied with having a good time, here with my friends, to bother my head about such things as falling in love.’ These last words came swiftly, tumbling out as if she just had to convince her listener of their sincerity.

  But were they sincere…?

  Lena was again asking herself this question the following morning when, awakened at five-thirty as usual by the sun streaming on to her bed, she lay for a while staring up at the ceiling. No doubt about it, something was happening to her… something that had never happened to her before. Deliberately concentrating all her thoughts on the garden, she rose, washed and dressed, then went out into the cool bright world where the boys were already busy in the fields and the dairy. Gerald greeted her with a wave of the hand as he hurried off to give instructions to the boy in charge; June called from her bedroom window, scolding Lena for being up so early.

  ‘You’ve come for a rest cure, and what do I find you doing? Slogging away in that garden at six o’clock in the morning!’

  Lena stopped to reply,

  ‘It’s far too marvellous to be in bed. The air’s so cool and soft! It’s the very best time of the day.’

  ‘I won’t argue about that. Come back in half an hour; I’ll have some coffee for you.’

  With the sustained, applied energy which both Lena and Hendrik put into the work, it was inevitable that the garden should take shape, and that results should begin to show quickly. Kane sent the plants on a truck—a huge load of them, including all the oleanders that were needed for the hedge and the windbreak. He also sent some feathery tamarisks and some scarlet hibiscus—these in addition to all the other plants and bushes he had promised her. The young trees were in pots of the kind which, once in the ground, would begin to rot, leaving the soil intact around the roots. This meant that fairly large bushes and trees could be planted without any danger of their dying. Having caught Lena’s enthusiasm, Hendrik worked hard, so hard that Gerald decided to give him extra pay.

  ‘Thanks, baas.’ Delighted with his extra money, Hendrik worked even harder for the next few days, planting the trees, digging and rolling the area that was to be laid down to lawn, getting on to his knees to take out the weeds from the paths. And with Lena also putting in everything she had the garden was really taking shape by the time Kane came again, this time to the dinner-party which June was giving for Jennifer.

  Lena, lying in the warm, scented bath, could not deny that she was excitedly anxious to see Kane’s reaction to all that had been done in so short a time. True, the flower beds were not yet the glory of exotic colour to be found in his gardens, but it w’ould not be long before they were, since things grew quickly here—with the heat, the applied water and the constant hoeing in order to kill the weeds. The oleander hedge looked as if it had been there for years; the ‘lawn’ was dug and rolled ready for the grass seed, which Gerald had ordered and “which would be collected the first time either he or one of the girls went into town. The poin-settias, which were already flowering when they arrived, were more than living up to their name of ‘fire-plants’ as they bloomed in a riotous profusion beneath the oleander hedge. In other beds were anthuriums and allamandas, dainty cosmos, antirrhinums, brilliant portulacas and many others sent in pots by Kane. All these would be in flower within a few weeks, and if by then the grass was growing in the lawn, the garden would have come a long way towards the ultimate perfection planned by Lena.

  Managing to put the garden from her thoughts for a little while, Lena concentrated on her appearance, June having said they would wear long dresses, Lena had decided on an off-white cotton with full skirt, high collar and long, very full sleeves ruched into a tight cuff. Dark brown silk embroidery embellished the material which was of a bordered design so that the embroidery on the bottom of the skirt was much bolder than that on the top, and on the bodice. Narrow velvet ribbon, brown to match the embroidery, decorated the collar and cuffs, and wider ribbon of a matching shade formed a belt with lengths of the velvet ribbon hanging from the bow at the back. Her hair, newly washed, and set by June, who excelled at this as she excelled at most things she attempted, had, to Lena’s great delight, gained all of its former springiness and lustre. A little colour on her cheeks and lips dispelled the pallor, a hint of perfume, expensive and seductive, a cameo bracelet, a pretty lace handkerchief, a final glance in the mirror.

  Satisfied with what she saw, Lena went from her room and along the corridor to the dining-room where earlier in the day she had filled vases with flowers and in addition had made individual flower arrangements. These stood with the silver and glass, the candlesticks and pretty porcelain on the sturdy oak table. Handmade rugs were scattered about the darkly-polished floor; colourful tapestries adorned the walls. The chairs, made of stinkwood and teak, were rime-seated in brown leather strips, and June had made gaily-coloured cushions for the seats and backs.

  ‘Can I take over now while you go and change?’ Having entered the kitchen Lena made her offer. June, looking rather hot, but happy for all that, nodded in agreement, but insisted on first tying an enormous apron around her friend’s tiny waist.

  ‘All you need now is a cotton kappje and you’ll look the typical Boer hausfrau!’ laughed June, standing back to survey Lena in the apron.

  ‘What in heaven’s name is a kappje?’ Lena wanted to know.

  ‘An old-fashioned bonnet which the older Boer women sometimes wear. It’s for the sun, mainly, though,’ admitted June, glancing at the clock. ‘I must fly. Watch the gravy; I’ve only just put it on. We’re having duck paté as a starter, as you know, so if you’d like to see to the garnishings—’

  ‘I’ll do all that,’ broke in Lena calmly. ‘Off you go, June, and take your time. There’s no real hurry; they’ll not be here until half-past seven at the earliest.’ It would be dark, tho
ught Lena, but as there was a full moon Kane would be able to see the garden—if he wanted to, that was. Perhaps, having fulfilled his promise to give her the plants and cuttings, he would have no further interest in her project. But she need not have worried; the first thing he said after greeting his host and hostess and Lena was,

  ‘How’s the garden growing? Come and show me what you’ve done.’

  His dark eyes, suddenly arrested by her appearance, swept over her. The light from the lamps, catching her hair, imparted deep bronze tints to add to its lustre; the light also touched her eyes, enhancing their colour and depth. It accentuated the contours of her face, which were already more rounded than when she had first come to Mtula Farm. Her lips parted in a smile as she looked up at him, standing as he was by the back of the sofa, plainly not intending to sit down until he had been outside and shown what progress had been made.

  Lena glanced uncertainly at June; the sauces were still simmering on the stove and Lena felt she ought to be in the kitchen, watching them. But as June’s expression indicated that she had everything under control, and as Kane was waiting for her to show him the results of her labours, Lena turned to him with a deepening smile and said she was quite ready to take him outside.

  They went through the window on to the stoep, and from there into the moon-flooded garden, where Lena proudly took him from one trim flower bed to another. Then they strolled in silence for a while as they made for the ‘showpiece’, the large bed of poinsettias with their backcloth of oleanders.

  ‘You’ve done a marvellous job here.’ Kane stared in appreciation, while his words of praise ran like heady wine through Lena’s receptive brain. The silence prevailed, simply because Lena herself was unable to comment, owing to the little ache of tenseness that had gripped the back of her throat. She glanced up, seeing his aristocratic profile sharply clear in the moonlight. The sense of unreality which had assailed her before was with her now; the stars and moon, the lights from the kraal, the air pulsating with the night-sounds of the forest and bushveld, the inexhaustible charm of starlight on the mountains, the intoxicating perfume filling the air… all these compounded to create a mystic land, a realm of unreality where, it seemed, humans should not stray.