Free The Blue Mountains of Kabuta by Hilary Wilde

said, hoping her mother wouldn’t notice her tell-tale blush.
    Her mother shrugged. ‘You are a funny girl, Jon. Sometimes I just can’t understand you.’
    Jon felt tempted to say ‘But you just told Alex you knew me so well!’ but how could she mention Alex’s visit unless her mother did, and if the whole thing came out into the open, there might be one of those emotional scenes with her mother that she dreaded and that left Ursula exhausted for days.
    Mrs Swayne arrived in her black car and Jon waved them goodbye, then wandered round the house. She could hear the chugging of the tractors, the sudden crow of a cock, the chatter of Violet and Dorcas in the kitchen, and she thought how much she loved the sounds. This was her home. Her beloved home.
    Jon felt restless, wishing there was someone with whom she could discuss the situation. Part of her was eager to rush in to Qwaleni and put the advertisement in the newspaper—another part of her hesitated. Was she doing the right thing? Should she consult Alex?
    She went out on the stoep, the dogs leaping up excitedly as they thought that meant a walk, then as she sank into a chair, they sat down close by, looking at her with reproachful eyes.
    But Jon hardly noticed them for once. She was thinking of Alex. If she told him she wanted to get a farm manager, she could imagine the light of triumph in his eyes. Even if he didn’t say: ‘I told you so’, he would make it obvious that it was what he thought!
    Then she felt ashamed. Was she unjust? Uncle Ned had said she was to trust Alex.
    Yet she must not sell the farm to him. It didn’t make sense. What should she do?
    The sound of a car brought her to her feet. Was it Alex? she wondered. No, it was Madeleine! Getting out of her car with her usual gracefulness, hurrying across the sunlit lawn in a brief white frock, looking as beautiful as usual. But she happened to be the very last person Jon wanted to see at that moment!
    â€˜Is Alex here?’ Madeleine asked curtly without any greeting.
    â€˜As far as I know he isn’t unless he’s out on the lands, but then he usually lets us know.’
    â€˜Where’s your mother?’
    â€˜Gone out with Mrs Swayne.’
    Madeleine frowned. ‘Alex hasn’t been here at all?’
    Jon hesitated. ‘I took the dogs for a walk before breakfast and he wasn’t here when I got back.’
    â€˜Your mother said nothing?’
    â€˜No, she didn’t,’ Jon snapped, suddenly annoyed. What right had Madeleine to come and question her like this?
    Madeleine looked startled. ‘I’m sorry if this seems a cross-examination, Jon, I didn’t mean it that way.’ Her voice became almost placating. ‘Only I’ve been trying to get Alex on the phone since it came on and no one seems to know where he is.’ She smiled sweetly, but somehow Jon distrusted the smile. A sudden idea came to her. Was Madeleine jealous? Had she, too, perhaps thought that Jon’s mother and Alex . . . ? After all, they were only a few years apart in age, and nowadays, few people worried about that! Poor Madeleine, so beautiful, so possessive and so sure of herself. Would this explain her sudden appearance and abrupt and even rude manner?
    â€˜Would you like a cup of coffee?’ Jon asked politely, hoping Madeleine would refuse. But she didn’t.
    â€˜Lovely idea.’ Madeleine sat down in one of the cane chairs. ‘By the way, Jon, Mother asked me to ask you if your ma and you would come to dinner tomorrow night?’
    Jon, pausing on her way to the kitchen to tell Violet to make two cups of coffee, hesitated. She had no desire to go to Madeleine’s home, the one Alex had joked about, saying it was called Pumula, which meant peace, and that peace was the last thing you got in the Cox home.
    â€˜I’ll have to ask Mum, Madeleine. She’s getting such a busy social life these days.’
    They both