Someone Wishes to Speak to You (35 page)

When the conversation moved on to the increased amount of terrorist attacks in the region, Mathew mentioned his surprise that at the small party Paddy Bushney had recently thrown, some of his brother officers had freely discussed in detail the nature of their past and forthcoming counter-insurgency raids.

After dinner, when Mathew was left in the small sitting room to listen to the BBC World Service News, Mariette had a confession to make to her sister. ‘Jan, I have found it impossible to keep your romance with Mathew a secret from Willie, and I’ve told him in confidence about you both staying here and the depth of your feelings for each other. All he said was that he wishes you every future happiness, but that it’s absolutely essential that the four of us make sure no word of your relationship goes any further. Of course, he can see that if Paddy heard even the slightest rumour about your unfaithfulness, the consequences wouldn’t bear thinking about.’

‘Willie is a good man and I hate to think I’ve dragged him into this situation . . . I can understand that you couldn’t keep it from him and I’m glad he wasn’t angry with you. I don’t want to cause trouble between you.’

‘Willie and I have never had any secrets between us. He was a little concerned about you and Mathew spending the
night in the spare room, although I did say that the camp bed had been made up on the veranda so that for all appearances on the following morning, he had slept there. Willie is a staunch member of the Dutch Reformed Church and the local priest is a close friend of his – he asked me to visit his presbytery and within the confidentiality of the priesthood, to seek his advice and understanding.’

‘I can put your mind at rest. We spent the night in each other’s arms, but we didn’t make love, not in the true sense of the word. So I haven’t committed adultery. We agreed before we spent the night together that we would only consummate the relationship once I’m legally separated from Paddy and we can become man and wife.’

‘Well if that’s the case, I believe you’ve made the right decision and you’ll be glad of it, in the future.’

‘You know, Mathew told me recently that through his research for his study of facial images, he found an old Jewish quotation that we both consider to be completely relevant to our relationship, which is “Adultery can be committed with the eyes”. Meeting Mathew, I’ve come to recognise that love is not merely a physical act, but can be blessed by a spiritual wealth as well.’

After Mathew had spent a further blissful night with Jan, and they had experienced another tearful separation, he left Carnock Farm on Sunday morning and drove down to Inyanga to have lunch with the Kinlochs. During the journey, he could not help very much regretting that he had to keep his relationship with Jan a total secret from the outside world. In particular, the degree of deception that he had to adopt when telling not only Simon and Anna, but later Miles and Addie, the conflicting stories as to his exact whereabouts over the weekend. He knew Anna would have warned him of the dangers should the relationship become public knowledge, and how disappointed Addie would be that he had not confided in her about his deep love for Jan. For since his
first meeting with Addie soon after his arrival in Rhodesia, they had shared so many personal confidences.

On Monday evening, the South African Airways flight arrived on schedule from Johannesburg at Salisbury airport, prior to its onward night flight to London Heathrow. On clearing immigration, Mathew’s entry card was stamped. Since UDI, visitors to Rhodesia had been asked whether they would prefer not to have their passports stamped in case this record of their visit could impede, or even prevent, their entry into another country, especially into another African country that wanted to see Ian Smith’s RF Government defeated and brought to its knees.

Mathew’s return to Hartington Hall proved on the whole to be most enjoyable, especially as his brother, Sebastian, had managed to arrange a week’s leave from his Northern Ireland posting. A number of his relatives and childhood friends, including Antonia, were currently in Yorkshire enjoying some early autumn sunny weather. Mathew did however find it disconcerting to see his father looking considerably older than he had done on his previous visit; he had lost a lot of weight and his complexion was noticeably flushed.

During his time with Sebastian, they enjoyed riding around the estate, visiting some of their favourite old haunts and also sharing a number of confidences – which in Mathew’s case he had never discussed with anyone else.

‘A British diplomat, Jeremy Hughes, has asked me to divulge all the relevant information I have been given by my African friends, particularly an influential tribal chief. Our conversations have been confidential, but Hughes has told me that it’s my duty as a British citizen to tell him as much as I know about the African population’s attitude to the Bush War, the movement of Africans from across the Mozambique border and whether they are in favour of the proposed internal settlement. It’s
not just him, either. The South African Embassy’s Military Attaché, Major Piet Erasmus, has also put pressure on me to divulge confidentialities.’

He told Sebastian in the strictest confidence about his intention to marry Jan Bushney, the young wife of the second in command of the Selous Scouts, and that only her sister and brother-in-law were aware of their romance. He explained that as Major Paddy Bushney was playing such a significant part in the Bush War, it may take a number of months before his intended bride would be in a position to start divorce proceedings.

‘Back in the carefree days of my youth,’ said Mathew, reverting to more lighthearted matters, ‘my first infatuation was Antonia. She wrote to me recently to tell me that she’s become engaged to a viscount’s son, Timothy Ludlow – we’ll meet him at Saturday’s tennis party at Bardon Towers. It was a long time ago and I’ve moved on, but I must admit it feels a bit odd that Antonia’s marrying someone I’ve never met. I hope I approve.’

‘Well, before the delights of the tennis party at Bardon Towers, Mother wants to see us tomorrow morning while Father is in Skipton with his lawyer,’ Sebastian warned Mathew. ‘I don’t expect it to be good news.’

Lady Sally Duncan sat with her sons in the spacious drawing room of Hartington Hall, just after 10 a.m. on Thursday morning. A maid passed each of them a cup of fine Kenyan coffee from a silver tray and left the room. Then, Sally Duncan dropped what Mathew considered to be almost a bombshell in their midst.

‘The family doctor has recently told me that your father is suffering from a serious heart condition, primarily due to high blood pressure which he is trying to bring down by oral medication. In all probability, your father will have to be
operated upon in the near future. In the meantime, it’s important for as much as possible to be done to relieve him of the current pressures of the running of the Hartington estate. Mathew, you did tell your father that you may be able to take on the management of the estate at some stage – is there any possibility that in the not too distant future, you could give up your academic work in Rhodesia to return home?’

He found her request almost impossible to find an adequate response to, for he knew that before he even thought of leaving Rhodesia, he had to be supportive of Jan as soon as she started her divorce proceedings. ‘Of course I’ll think very carefully about what you’ve said, Mother,’ said Mathew. ‘I don’t want to let you and Father down but at the same time, I’m currently under contract to the university and I have some field studies to complete . . . Perhaps Sebastian and I should talk this over, discuss the possibilities? It might be easier if we can work through some ideas together. Shall we talk again tomorrow?’

‘I would very much appreciate that. I know it must have come as a shock to you both, it’s come as a shock to all of us, but we do need to somehow take the stress of the estate away from your father. It’s a great relief to talk to you about it, but I don’t want your father to know I’ve spoken to you – not until we can give him a solution.’

The next morning, the brothers presented their idea to Lady Sally. ‘Mother, Mathew and I have given the matter a great deal of thought and we think we might have a viable plan. Obviously, the priority is for Father to step back from his present role as soon as possible. We suggest that Andrew Higgins is promoted and given a salary increase, in order for him to act as the interim overall manager of the Hartington estate.’ Andrew Higgins was the farm manager, much trusted
and well liked by Sir Colin. ‘Higgins can then act as interim manager until Mathew considers that he is in a position to leave Africa for good.’

‘Do you know,’ said Lady Sally with a smile of relief, ‘I think you’ve come up with something that your father may well accept. He will be delighted with the thought that one day, Mathew will return to Hartington to take on the duties on behalf of the Duncan family.’

‘Timothy, meet Mathew – he was the first love of my life, but soon escaped my clutches and fled to Africa to study monkeys.’ Everyone laughed, although Mathew couldn’t help blushing slightly at the truth behind Antonia’s words. Mathew and Sebastian found Antonia’s fiancé, Timothy Ludlow, to be intelligent, down-to-earth and very likeable. After a doubles match on the tennis court, which the Duncan brothers allowed the newly engaged couple to win, Timothy plied Sebastian with questions about the current political situation in Northern Ireland, the ongoing conflict between Republicans and Unionists, and Roman Catholics and Protestants, before switching his attention to Mathew.

‘Do you think Ian Smith’s regime will ever agree to one man, one vote elections for Rhodesia’s black and white citizens?’ asked Timothy. ‘If so, what do you consider the chances are for the country to achieve a peaceful settlement, and what do you think the timescale will be?’

After Mathew had given his opinions on the political situation in Rhodesia, he was pleased that Timothy began asking him about his primate field studies, which he showed a great deal of interest in. ‘While I was in the process of compiling one of the major parts of my MA, I visited the Museo del Prado in Madrid and saw a number of late-sixteenth to mid-seventeenth century paintings of New World primates, which included David Teniers II “Banquet of
Monkeys”, which depicts marmosets and tamarins. Apparently they were Brazilian golden lion tamarins – quite beautiful, their colour reminded me of barley sugar.’

‘I know the painting. It’s amazing Teniers could keep the monkeys still for long enough to get an accurate representation.’

‘Absolutely. There was an interesting reference at the museum explaining that lion tamarins became all the rage among the aristocracy in Spain and Portugal in the seventeenth century. Apparently, the nobility would pay enormous prices for healthy specimens. What I found particularly amusing was that aristocrats would sometimes present them to their wives and daughters, but more often for some curious sociological reason to their mistresses, who carried them around in their sleeves or other convenient retreats about their raiments.’

Antonia heard them laughing and came to join them. ‘What on earth has tickled you two? You’re like a pair of giggling schoolboys.’

‘Well my dear, I’ve just been telling Mathew some of the delights of viewing paintings of a diversity of the monkey kingdom within the solace of art galleries, and therefore not having to battle one’s way through dense forests and steaming jungles in order to gain just a fleeting glance of one.’

On the morning before Sebastian had to return to Northern Ireland, Sir Colin asked his sons to come to the drawing room for an important discussion with he and Lady Sally.

‘I’ll be honest with you, boys, the doctor has told me that if I carry on with my present workload and the daily stresses of running the estate, I will in all probability be dead within the year. As a result of this prognosis, I agree with the suggestion that you put forward to your mother, that being to promote Andrew Higgins to the position of the estate’s interim managing director. I just want to say how delighted I am to hear that one of my dreams will one day come true,
that some time in the future one of my sons, Mathew, will continue with the Duncan family’s long-adhered to tradition of being directly involved with the overall management of the Hartington Hall estate.’

On Mathew’s return flight to Africa, after a rather sad farewell to his parents, he found himself to be in a sombre state of melancholy. He realised that if he hadn’t fallen so deeply in love with Jan, if he didn’t have to resolve their future together and if he wasn’t so eager to continue with his academic career, it would be his duty to resign from his forthcoming tutorial post at the University of Rhodesia and return to Hartington Hall to take up his responsibilities at the earliest opportunity. Although he was longing to see Jan again, he had recently become increasingly concerned about the meeting that Jeremy Hughes wanted to have with him as soon as he was back in Salisbury. It weighed heavily on his mind.

Simon and Anna were at Salisbury Airport to give him a warm welcome back to Rhodesia and drive him to their home. Over brunch, they were anxious to hear all about Mathew’s trip, after which Anna excitedly told him that their co-authored scientific paper about the comparative social behaviour of captive and wild populations of vervet monkeys had been accepted by the editors of the
International Journal of Primatology
.

‘That’s not all! One of the vervets has had twins!’ she told him with a degree of enthusiasm no less than if she had just given birth herself. ‘I managed to film the whole thing, and to record some of the calls made by other members of the family group – they make a gentle chattering noise, “yokko-yorgo-yorgo-yok”, at the time of the parturition, as if they’re supporting the mother. It’s quite incredible. I can’t wait for you to hear it.’

As Anna was determined to show Mathew her new ‘pride
and joy’, which Simon referred to as her twin babies, they visited the museum without delay. Mathew was delighted at how relaxed the family group of vervets were, and to see a part of the recording of the birth. After they returned to Simon’s office, he handed Mathew two letters marked ‘Private and confidential’, which had arrived at the museum by recorded delivery on the previous day. Mathew didn’t open the envelopes until he returned to the Vaughan-Joneses’ home and had taken a shower, prior to joining his hosts for dinner. Their contents almost made him want to get on a plane back to his homeland as quickly as possible. One had come from Jeremy Hughes to inform him that he would be receiving a phone call the following morning; the second was from Piet Erasmus, demanding that they should meet as a matter of great urgency.