Master of the Game

Chapter 13

Cheltenham School was unbearable. There were rules and regulations for everything. The girls had to wear identical uniforms, down to their knickers. The school day was ten hours long, and every minute was rigidly structured. Mrs. Keaton ruled the pupils and her staff with a rod of iron. The girls were there to learn manners and discipline, etiquette and decorum, so that they could one day attract desirable husbands.

Kate wrote her mother, "It's a bloody prison. The girls here are awful. All they ever talk about are bloody clothes and bloody boys. The bloody teachers are monsters. They'll never keep me here. I'm going to escape."

Kate managed to run away from the school three times, and each time she was caught and brought back, unrepentant.

At a weekly staff meeting, when Kate's name was brought up, one of the teachers said, "The child is uncontrollable. I think we should send her back to South Africa."

Mrs. Keaton replied, "I'm inclined to agree with you, but let's look upon it as a challenge. If we can succeed in disciplining Kate McGregor, we can succeed in disciplining anyone."

Kate remained in school.

To the amazement of her teachers, Kate became interested in the farm that the school maintained. The farm had vegetable gardens, chickens, cows, pigs and horses. Kate spent as much time as possible there, and when Mrs. Keaton learned of this, she was immensely pleased.

"You see," the headmistress told her staff, "it was simply a question of patience. Kate has finally found her interest in life. One day she will marry a landowner and be of enormous assistance to him."

The following morning, Oscar Denker, the man in charge of running the farm, came to see the headmistress. "One of your students," he said, "that Kate McGregor - I wish you'd keep her away from my farm."

"Whatever are you talking about?" Mrs. Keaton asked. "I happen to know she's very interested."

"Sure she is, but do you know what she's interested in? The animals fornicating, if you'll excuse my language."

"What?"

"That's right. She stands around all day, just watching the animals do it to each other."

"Bloody hell!" Mrs. Keaton said.

Kate still had not forgiven David for sending her into exile, but she missed him terribly. It's my fate, she thought gloomily, to be in love with a man I hate. She counted the days she was away from him, like a prisoner marking time until the day of release. Kate was afraid he would do something dreadful, like marry another woman while she was trapped in the bloody school. If he does, Kate thought, I'll kill them both. No. I'll just kill her. They'll arrest me and hang me, and when I'm on the gallows, he'll realize that he loves me. But it will be too late. He'll beg me to forgive him. "Yes, David, my darling, I forgive you. You were too foolish to know when you held a great love in the palm of your hand. You let it fly away like a little bird. Now that little bird is about to be hanged. Good-bye, David." But at the last minute she would be reprieved and David would take her in his arms and carry her off to some exotic country where the food was better than the bloody slop they served at bloody Cheltenham.

Kate received a note from David saying he was going to be in London and would come to visit her. Kate's imagination was inflamed. She found a dozen hidden meanings in his note. Why was he going to be in England? To be near her, of course. Why was he coming to visit her? Because he finally knew he loved her and could not bear to be away from her any longer. He was going to sweep her off her feet and take her out of this terrible place. She could scarcely contain her happiness. Kate's fantasy was so real that the day David arrived, Kate went around saying good-bye to her classmates. "My lover is coming to take me out of here," she told them.

The girls looked at her in silent disbelief. All except Georgina Christy, who scoffed, "You're lying again, Kate McGregor."

"Just wait and see. He's tall and handsome, and he's mad about me."

When David arrived, he was puzzled by the fact that all the girls in the school seemed to be staring at him. They looked at him and whispered and giggled, and the minute they caught his eye, they blushed and turned away.

"They act as though they've never seen a man before," David told Kate. He looked at her suspiciously. "Have you been saying anything about me?"

"Of course not," Kate said haughtily. "Why would I do that?"

They ate in the school's large dining room, and David brought Kate up to date on everything that was happening at home. "Your mother sends her love. She's expecting you home for the summer holiday."

"How is mother?"

"She's fine. She's working hard."

"Is the company doing well, David?"

He was surprised by her sudden interest. "It's doing very well. Why?"

Because, Kate thought, someday it will belong to me, and you and I will share it. "I was just curious."

He looked at her untouched plate. "You're not eating."

Kate was not interested in food. She was waiting for the magic moment, the moment when David would say, "Come away with me, Kate. You're a woman now, and I want you. We're going to be married."

The dessert came and went. Coffee came and went, and still no magic words from David.

It was not until he looked at his watch and said, "Well, I'd better be going or I'll miss my train," that Kate realized with a feeling of horror that he had not come to take her away at all. The bastard was going to leave her there to rot!

David had enjoyed his visit with Kate. She was a bright and amusing child, and the waywardness she had once shown was now under control. David patted Kate's hand fondly and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you before I leave, Kate?"

She looked him in the eye and said sweetly, "Yes, David, there is. You can do me an enormous favor. Get out of my bloody life!" And she walked out of the room with great dignity, her head held high, leaving him sitting there, mouth agape.

Margaret found that she missed Kate. The girl was unruly and contrary, but Margaret realized that she was the only living person she loved. She's going to be a great woman, Margaret thought with pride. But I want her to have the manners of a lady.

Kate came home for summer vacation. "How are you getting along in school?" Margaret asked.

"I hate it! It's like being surrounded by a hundred nannies."

Margaret studied her daughter. "Do the other girls feel the same way, Kate?"

"What do they know?" she said contemptuously. "You should see the girls at that school! They've been sheltered all their lives. They don't know a damn thing about life."

"Oh, dear," Margaret said. "That must be awful for you."

"Don't laugh at me, please. The've never even been to South Africa. The only animals they've seen have been in zoos. None of them has ever seen a diamond mine or a gold mine."

"Underprivileged."

Kate said, "All right. But when I turn out like them, you're going to be bloody sorry."

"Do you think you'll turn out like them?"

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.