Van der Merwe hurried back into the room, rubbing his hands. “I’ve closed the shop,” he said. “Let’s sit down and have a fine dinner.”
Jamie was given the place of honor at the table. “We’ll say grace,” Van der Merwe said.
They closed their eyes. Margaret slyly opened hers again, so that she could continue her scrutiny of the elegant stranger while her father’s voice droned on. “We are all sinners in your eyes, O Lord, and must be punished. Give us the strength to bear our hardships on this earth, so that we may enjoy the fruits of heaven when we are called. Thank you, Lord, for helping those of us who deserve to prosper. Amen.”
Salomon van der Merwe began serving. This time the portions he served Jamie were more than generous. They talked as they ate. “Is this your first time out this way, Mr. Travis?”
“Yes,” Jamie said. “First time.”
“You didn’t bring Mrs. Travis along, I understand.”
“There is no Mrs. Travis. I haven’t found anyone who’d have me.” Jamie smiled.
What fool of a woman would refuse him? Margaret wondered. She lowered her eyes, afraid the stranger might read her wicked thoughts.
“Klipdrift is a town of great opportunity, Mr. Travis. Great opportunity.”
“I’m willing to be shown.” He looked at Margaret, and she blushed.
“If it isn’t too personal, Mr. Travis, may I ask how you acquired your fortune?”
Margaret was embarrassed by her father’s blunt questions, but the stranger did not seem to mind.
“I inherited it from my father,” Jamie said easily.
“Ah, but I’m sure you’ve had a lot of business experience.”
“Very little, I’m afraid. I need a lot of guidance.”
Van der Merwe brightened. “It’s fate that we met, Mr. Travis. I have some very profitable connections. Very profitable, indeed. I can almost guarantee that I can double your money for you in just a few months.” He leaned over and patted Jamie’s arm. “I have a feeling this is a big day for both of us.”
Jamie just smiled.
“I suppose you’re staying at the Grand Hotel?”
“That’s right.”
“It’s criminally expensive. But I suppose to a man of your means…” He beamed at Jamie.
Jamie said, “I’m told the countryside around here is interesting. Would it be an imposition to ask you to let your daughter show me around a bit tomorrow?”
Margaret felt her heart stop for a second.
Van der Merwe frowned. “I don’t know. She—”
It was an iron-clad rule of Salomon van der Merwe’s never to permit any man to be alone with his daughter. In the case of Mr. Travis, however, he decided there would be no harm in making an exception. With so much at stake, he did not want to appear inhospitable. “I can spare Margaret from the store for a short time. You will show our guest around, Margaret?”
“If you wish, Father,” she said quietly.
“That’s settled then.” Jamie smiled. “Shall we say ten o’clock in the morning?”
After the tall, elegantly dressed guest left, Margaret cleared away the table and washed the dishes, in a complete daze. He must think I’m an idiot. She went over and over in her mind everything she had contributed to the conversation. Nothing. She had been completely tongue-tied. Why was that? Hadn’t she waited on hundreds of men in the store without becoming a stupid fool? Of course they had not looked at her the way Ian Travis had. Men all have the devil in them, Margaret. I’ll not let them corrupt your innocence. Her father’s voice echoed in her mind. Could that be it? The weakness and trembling she had felt when the stranger had looked at her? Was he corrupting her innocence? The thought of it sent a delicious thrill through her body. She looked down at the plate she had dried three times and sat down at the table. She wished her mother were still alive.
Her mother would have understood. Margaret loved her father, but sometimes she had the oppressive feeling that she was his prisoner. It worried her that he never allowed a man to come near her. I’ll never get married, Margaret thought. Not until he dies. Her rebellious thoughts filled her with guilt, and she hurriedly left the room and went into the store, where her father sat behind a desk, working on his accounts.