Mma Makutsi put down a piece of paper and looked quizzically at her employer. There were times when Mma Ramotswe was opaque in her manner, when she seemed to want Mma Makutsi to work something out for herself, and this seemed to be one of those occasions.
“I cannot guess, Mma,” she said. “I just cannot guess. You are going to have to tell me what it is.”
Mma Ramotswe took a deep breath. “Would you like to get married some day, Mma?” she asked.
Mma Makutsi looked down at her shoes. “Yes,” she said. “I would like to get married one day. But I do not know if that will happen.”
“There is a man who wishes to marry you,” said Mma Ramotswe. “I understand that he is a good man. But he is too shy to ask you himself because he is very worried about his stammer …”
She tailed off. Mma Makutsi was staring at her now, and her eyes were wide with astonishment.
“He has sent his father to ask you whether you will marry him,” Mma Ramotswe continued. “And I have come as the messenger from the father. All you have to do is think very carefully. Do you like this man? Do you love him enough to marry him? Is that what you want? Do not say yes unless you are sure. Be very careful, Mma. This is a very important decision.”
As she finished her sentence, it seemed to her as if Mma Makutsi was unable to speak. She opened her mouth, but then she closed it again. Mma Ramotswe waited. A fly had landed on her shoulder and was tickling her, but she did not brush it off.
Mma Makutsi suddenly stood up, and looked at Mma Ramotswe. Then she sat down again, heavily, almost missing her chair. She took off her glasses, those large round glasses, and polished them quickly with her threadbare lace handkerchief, the handkerchief that she had treasured for so long and which, like the tiny white van, was near to the end of its life.
When she spoke, her voice was distant, almost a whisper. But Mma Ramotswe heard what she said, which was, “I will marry him, Mma. You can tell the father that. I will marry Phuti Radiphuti. My answer is yes.”
Mma Ramotswe clapped her hands in delight. “Oh, I am happy, Mma Makutsi,” she shrieked. “I am happy, happy, happy. His father said that Phuti was one hundred per cent certain that he wanted to marry you. One hundred per cent, Mma. Not ninety-seven per cent—one hundred per cent!”
They went outside together, to the place where Mr Radiphuti was standing. He looked at them anxiously, but could tell from their expressions what answer they were bringing him. Then the three of them spoke together for a short time, but only a short time, as Mr Radiphuti was keen to get back to his son to tell him what Mma Makutsi’s response was.
Back in the office, Mma Ramotswe tactfully said nothing. Mma Makutsi gathered her thoughts, standing before the window, looking out to the trees in the distance and the evening sun on the grey-green hills beyond the trees. She had so much to think about: her past, and the place from where she had come; her family, who would be so pleased with this news, up there in Bobonong; and her late brother, Richard, who would never know about this, unless, of course, he was watching from somewhere, which he might be, for all she knew. She loved this country, which was a good place, and she loved those with whom she lived and worked. She had so much love to give—she had always felt that—and now there was somebody to whom she could give this love, and that, she knew, was good; for that is what redeems us, that is what makes our pain and sorrow bearable—this giving of love to others, this sharing of the heart.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the acclaimed No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series. He was born in what is now known as Zimbabwe and taught law at the University of Botswana. He is the author of more than fifty books: novels, stories, children’s books, and specialized titles such as Forensic Aspects of Sleep. A professor of medical law at Edinburgh University, he lives in Scotland.
BOOKS BY
ALEXANDER M C CALL SMITH
IN THE NO. 1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY SERIES
The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe
Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
IN THE SUNDAY PHILOSOPHY CLUB SERIES
The Sunday Philosophy Club
IN THE PORTUGUESE IRREGULAR VERBS SERIES
Portuguese Irregular Verbs
The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances
The Girl Who Married a Lion and Other Tales from Africa
Copyright © 2004 by Alexander McCall Smith
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. Published simultaneously in Canada by Alfred A. Knopf Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in Great Britain by Polygon, an imprint of Birlinn, Ltd., Edinburgh, in 2004.
Pantheon Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McCall Smith, Alexander, [date]
In the company of cheerful ladies / Alexander McCall Smith
p. cm.
eISBN 0-375-42357-5
1. No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (Imaginary organization)—Fiction. 2. Ramotswe, Precious (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 3. Women private investigators—Botswana—Fiction. 4. Botswana—Fiction. I. Title.
PR6063.C326I5 2005 823'.914—dc22 2004056827
www.pantheonbooks.com
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