Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon

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?”