bashful. “I do. I think her father and mother will be happy for us to marry.”
“Do you get on well together?”
He nodded. “She is strong and smart and will build a fine house and bear many sons, I think.” He paused then added, “She is very quiet. I do not know what she thinks of. But perhaps a warrior is not meant to know the thoughts of women.”
“Is she pretty?” I teased him.
His expression was sober, but I noticed his eyes smiled even if his mouth did not.
“Pretty like the first sunrise after a deep rain,” he said.
“A poetic sentiment, Gideon. Have you told her that’s what you think of her?”
He shook his head. “A warrior should not speak so freely of such things to women. I should not have told you.”
“Some things ought to be said. Tell her. I promise she won’t be quiet if she knows how much you admire her.”
“I should talk to this woman? Tell her my inmost thoughts?”
“Yes. Trust me, Gideon. I’ve been married three times. I know what works and what doesn’t.”
“Three times! And you are a widow? All three of your husbands are dead?”
“No. Just two. The second one is still alive back in England. I divorced him.”
He shook his head again. “It is a bad thing to put away one’s husband, but sometimes it must be done. Did he mistreat you?”
“Not in the way some husbands do. He didn’t beat me.”
“Was he given to drink?”
I smiled. “Not as much as I am. It was a matter of trust. He thought I betrayed him.”
“Betrayed him?”
“He thought I was unfaithful to him with another man.”
Gideon clucked his tongue. “This is a bad thing, too.”
“Not always,” I advised him. “But in this case my husband was wrong. He believed gossip and lies over my word. And since he could not believe in me, I left him.”
“Did he learn that you were innocent?”
“When it was too late. And I wouldn’t take him back then because I am stubborn and proud and because we would have failed at being married eventually. But it was a lesson to him. We are great friends now because he knows he can trust me completely.”
“Why do you not marry him again?”
“He has another wife. And children now.”
“Fine sons?”
“One. And a twin daughter.”
“Daughters are good. Daughters care for the cattle and build the houses and take care of the ones who need them.”
“And what do warriors do?” I asked with a smile.
He smiled back. “We protect, Bibi. It is what we do.”
11
When we reached Fairlight, Ryder turned down the path to his boma without a backward glance. Gideon walked me into the garden where the clergyman Halliwell was standing chatting with Dora.
“Look, Delilah, Mr. Halliwell has brought us oranges!” she said, brandishing a basket of bright round green fruit.
“Our African oranges are green,” he explained. “My sister thought you might enjoy them. She bought a bushel only this morning and wanted to be a good neighbour. Hello, Gideon,” he said, a trifle more slowly. “I hope you’ve been a help to Miss Drummond.” He turned to me. “Gideon was educated at our mission school. One of the brightest youngsters to come through our doors.”
He had a fatuous smile, as if it never occurred to him that a fully grown Masai warrior ought not to be spoken to as if he were of no more significance than a lapdog. There was a casually dismissive air about his attitude.
“Gideon has been most instructive,” I said sharply. “He took me to meet his grandfather.”
Halliwell gave me a gentle shake of the head. “Tread with caution, Miss Drummond. Native ways are inscrutable to a mind that loves Jesus.”
“Well, I never claimed to love Jesus, Mr. Halliwell. In fact, we’re barely acquainted.”
Dora cut in swiftly. “Where are my manners? Mr. Halliwell, will you join us for some tea on the veranda?”
He agreed and I turned to Gideon. He was watching me closely, and as the clergyman moved away with Dora, Gideon pitched his voice low. “Do not wear your anger like a mask, Bibi. His kind are simple as children. They cannot help what they do not know.”
I gave him a broad smile. “I know you will not accept food or drink from me, but there is a fellow working in the kitchen. I hope you will take something from him before you make the journey home again.”
He nodded and gave me a wave as he headed to the kitchen. I joined Dora and Halliwell on the