“I think I ought not to stay,” she said.
“I think you will not be able to leave,” Nel replied. “When Leentje tells me a thing is to be so, I accept it; it is less unpleasant to do that I like peace. You will not forget that I am expecting you to meiboss, and that I may not stay too long by my house?”
“Cornelius will think it strange, perhaps, that Mr Matheson should breakfast with you,” Honor suggested.
“If Cornelius gives you to understand that he is either surprised or displeased, extend the invitation to meiboss to him and Leentje,” he replied.
She laughed, and flicked the reins a little vexedly, and rode on.
Nel kept pace beside the second horse. Matheson, despite his protest, dismounted and walked on the other side.
“Is this your first visit to this district, Mr Matheson?” he asked.
“It is,” he answered. “And I believe that in the short time I have been here more thought and experience have been crowded than during any other period of my life—certainly any period of like duration.”
The eyes of the two men met in a long steady scrutiny. Nel was the first to withdraw his gaze.
“That is interesting,” he replied slowly—“and surprising; so little happens here. But the less that happens the more time there is for thought. In my rondavel I have much leisure for thinking; but staying by Benfontein you are in good company. They are nice people, the Kriges—yes!”