Rage by Wilbur Smith Page A

was calculating, juggling with the future, and he waited patiently until her eyes snapped back into focus.
    â€˜Can you see any reason for refusing?’ she asked.
    â€˜How about my political principles?’
    â€˜How do they differ from theirs?’
    â€˜I am not an Afrikaner.’
    â€˜That might be to your advantage. You will be their token Englishman. That will give you a special status. You will have a freer rein. They will be more reluctant to fire you than if you were one of their own.’
    â€˜I don’t agree with their native policy, this apartheid thing of theirs, it’s just financially unsound.’
    â€˜Good Lord, Shasa. You don’t believe in equal political rights for blacks, do you? Not even Jannie Smuts wanted that. You don’t want another Chaka ruling us, black judges and a black police force working for a black dictator?’ She shuddered. ‘We’d get pretty short shrift from them.’
    â€˜No, Mater, of course not. But this apartheid thing is merely a device for grabbing the whole pie. We have to give them a slice of it, we can’t hog it all. That’s a certain recipe for eventual bloody revolution.’
    â€˜Very well, chéri . If you are in the cabinet, you can see to it that they get a fair crack of the whip.’
    He looked dubious, and made a side-show of selecting a cigarette from his gold case and lighting it.
    â€˜You have a special talent, Shasa,’ Centaine went on persuasively. ‘It’s your duty to use it for the good of all.’
    Still he hesitated, he wanted her to declare herself
fully. He had to know if she wanted this as much as he did.
    â€˜We can be honest with each other, chéri . This is what we have worked towards since you were a child. Take this job and do it well. After that who knows what else may follow?’
    They were both silent then, they knew what they hoped would follow. They could not help themselves, it was their nature always to strive towards the highest pinnacle.
    â€˜What about Blaine?’ Shasa said at last. ‘How will he take it? I don’t look forward to telling him.’
    â€˜I’ll do that,’ she promised. ‘But you will have to tell Tara.’
    â€˜Tara,’ he sighed. ‘Now that will be a problem.’
    They were silent again, until Centaine asked, ‘How will you do it? If you cross the floor it will expose you to a blaze of hostile publicity.’
    So it was agreed without further words, only the means remained to be discussed.
    â€˜At the next general election I will simply campaign in different colours,’ Shasa said. ‘They will give me a safe seat.’
    â€˜So we have a little time to arrange the details, then.’
    They discussed them for another hour, planning with all the meticulous attention that had made them such a formidably successful team over the years, until Shasa looked up at her.
    â€˜Thank you,’ he said simply. ‘What would I ever do without you! You are tougher and cleverer than any man I know.’
    â€˜Get away with you,’ she smiled. ‘You know how I hate praise.’ They both laughed at that absurdity.
    â€˜I’ll walk you down, Mater.’ But she shook her head.
    â€˜I’ve still got some thinking to do. Leave me here.’
    She watched him go down the hill and her love and pride was so intense as to almost suffocate her.

    â€˜He is everything I ever wanted in a son, and he has fulfilled all my expectations, a thousand times over. Thank you, my son, thank you for the joy you have always given me.’
    Then abruptly the words ‘my son’ triggered another reaction, and her mind darted back to the earlier part of their conversation.
    â€˜Do you remember Manfred De La Rey?’ Shasa had asked her, but he could never know what the answer to that must be.
    â€˜Can a woman ever forget the child she bears?’ she whispered the reply aloud, but her words