Power of the Sword - Smith Wilbur - Страница 90

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You're letting Max rattle you, Blaine said quietly. You've been using Your noggin up to now. I n the first four chukkas You held them to four goals, but in the last chukka Max knocked in five. Yes, sir. Shasa scowled again unconsciously.

Think, lad. What has changed? Shasa shook his head and then blinked as it dawned on

him. He's pulling me across onto his offside. Right, Blaine nodded. He's taking you on his strong side.

Nobody has had a go at him from his other side, not once in five days. Change sides with Bunty and come at him on the nearside; come in steeply and barge him hard, just once.

Something tells me young Max isn't going to like his own medicine.

I think only one dose will be necessary. Nobody has yet seen the true colour of Master Theunissen's liver.

My guess is that it has a streak of yellow in it. You mean, foul him, sir? Shasa stared at him wonderingly. All his life he had been coached in the games of young gentlemen. This was the first time he had received this type of advice.

Perish the thought. Blaine winked at him. Let's just learn to be good losers, shall we? They had established this peculiar accord from the moment Centaine had first introduced them. Of course Blaine's reputation had made it easier for him; he had Shasa's respect and admiration before they had even met and, given Blaine's experience as an officer and politician in the art of bending others to his will, it had been a simple matter for him to make the most of his advantage with one so inexperienced and gullible.

Besides that, Blaine had truly and deeply wanted it to be good between them. Not only for the reason that Shasa was the son of the woman he loved, but because the boy was comely and charismatic, because he was quick-witted and had proved himself fearless and dedicated, and because Blaine did not have, and knew he never would have, a son of his own.

Stick with him, Shasa, and play him at his own game, he ended his advice, and Shasa smiled, his face radiant with pleasure and determination.

Thank you, sir. He clapped his hard hat on his head and strode away, the shaft of his mallet over his shoulder, the back of his white breeches stained brown with dubbin from the saddle and the sweat drying in salty white crystals between the shoulders of his bright yellow jersey.

Bunty, we are changing sides, he called, and when Abel led Tiger Shark up, Shasa. punched his shoulder lightly. You are right, you old thunder, I did check the girth myself. He made a show of doing it again, and Abel grinned delightedly when Shasa looked up from the girth buckle and told him, Now you can't blame me again. Without touching the stirrups he swung up onto Tiger Shark's back.

Blaine pushed himself away from the wagon wheel and sauntered back towards the grandstand, his eyes instinctively sweeping the throng for the bright yellow of Centaine's hat.

She was in a circle of males. Blaine recognized Sir Garry Courtney and General Smuts amongst them, together with three other influential men, a banker, a cabinet minister in the Hertzog government and Max Theunissen's father.

A pretty average sort of bunch for Madame Courtney. Blaine winced at the jealous pang he could not harden himself to accept.

Centaine's invitations had been sent out not only to the best players in the country but to all the most influential and important men in every other field: politicians, academics, great landowners and mining magnates, businessmen and newspaper editors, even a few artists and writers.

The chateau of Weltevreden was unable to house them all and she had taken over every room at the neighbouring Alphen Hotel, once also part of the Cloete family estate, to accommodate the overflow. Together with all her local there were well over two hundred from out of town.

guests, She had chartered a special train to bring down the upcountry contingent and their ponies, and for five days the entertainment had been continuous.

junior league polo in the mornings, an al fresco banquet at lunch time, senior polo in the afternoon, followed by an elaborate buffet dinner and all-night dancing.

Half a dozen bands played in relays, providing non-stop music through the days and nights. In between there were cabaret turns and fashion shows, a charity sale of art and rare wines, another sale of yearling thoroughbreds, a concours d'dftance for motor vehicles and lady drivers, a treasure hunt, a fancy-dress evening, tennis, croquet and bridge tournaments, show-jumping, a motor cyclist on a wall of death, Punch and Judy for the children and a team of professional nannies to keep the little ones occupied.

And I am the only one who knows what it is all about. Blaine looked up the stand at her. It's crazy and in a way immoral. It's no longer her money to spend. But I love her for her courage in the midst of misfortune. Centaine sensed him watching and her head turned quickly to him. For a moment they stared at each other, the distance between them not muting the intensity of their gaze, then she turned back to General Smuts and laughed gaily at what he was saying.

Blaine longed to go to her, just to be near to her, just to smell her perfume and listen to that husky voice with its touch of French accent, but instead he strode determinedly across the front of the stand to where Isabella sat in her wheelchair. This was the first day that Isabella had felt strong enough to attend the tournament and Centaine had arranged for a special ramp to be built to allow her wheelchair to reach the first tier of seats in the stand for a view of the field.

Isabella's silver-haired mother sat on one side of her and she was surrounded by four of her close girl friends and their husbands; but her two daughters came streaking down from the stand as soon as they saw Blaine, holding up their skirts to the knees with one hand and cramming their widebrimmed beribboned straw hats onto their heads with the other while they gabbled shrilly for his attention and then hopped along on each side of him, clinging to his hands and dragging him up to his seat beside Isabella.

Dutifully Blaine kissed the pale silky cbeek that Isabella Offered him. The skin was cool, and he caught a whiff of laudanum. on her breath. The pupils of her large eyes were dilated from the drug, giving them a touchingly vulnerable look.

I missed you, darling, she whispered, and it was the truth.

The moment Blaine had left her, she had looked around desperately to find Centaine Courtney, her torment only easing a little when she saw Centaine surrounded by admirers higher in the stand.

I had to chat to the boy, Blaine excused himself. Are you feeling better? Thank you. The laudanum is working now. She smiled up at him, so tragic and brave that he stooped once more and kissed her forehead. Then as he straightened he glanced guiltily in Centaine's direction, hoping that she had not noticed that spontaneous gesture of tenderness; but she was watching him, and she looked away quickly.

Papa, the teams are coming out. Tara tugged him down into his seat. Come on, Weltevreden, she shrieked, and Blaine could concentrate on the match rather than his own dilemma.

Changing sides Shasa led his team past the grandstand, cantering easily down the sideline, standing in the stirrups to adjust the chinstrap of his cap and searching for Blaine in the stand. They caught each other's eye and Shasa grinned as Blaine gave him a laconic thumbs up. Then he dropped back into the saddle and swung Tiger Shark around to face the Natal team as they rode out in their white breeches and caps, black boots and black short-sleeved shirts, looking tough and expert.

Max Theunissen frowned as he realized that Shasa had changed sides, and he circled out and flashed a hand signal to his number two on the far side of the field and then came back around again just as the umpire trotted to the centre and dropped the white bamboo root ball.

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