Yesterday's Promise (32 page)

“And the Zulu woman, Jendaya? I don't suppose you had the good fortune to question her while you were there.”

Julien shook his head. “Jakob was alone. He claims he got up one morning soon after she told him about Dumaka's theft of the Black Diamond to find she'd disappeared. He doesn't know what happened to her, or even if she is still alive.”

Rogan's optimism was fast turning into an extinguished flame. “And her brother, Dumaka?”

Again, Julien shook his head. “Jakob claims he's never met him. But Lobengula's tribe is related to the Zulus, as you know. Jakob is inclined to believe Dumaka may be among them in or around Bulawayo.”

“If you had told me this sooner, I could have asked about Dumaka when I was there.”

Julien dismissed Rogan's impatience. “You'd never find him. Dumaka was always insidious. Looking back now, I should have ordered him killed when I had the chance.”

Rogan was not surprised by his bluntness. If only he'd known all this then.

“Too late now,” Julien grumbled. “It is reasonable that he may have taken refuge with Lobengula after the Zulu defeat at Ulundi. He would be older now. I doubt I'd recognize him if I saw him face to face.” He looked at Rogan sharply. “The induna who said he knew Henry… Jube … I wonder?”

Rogan mused over all this with growing frustration.

“So there you have it, Rogan. The story as I know it. And it's likely the Kimberly Black is lost to us forever. But not Henry's gold discovery.”

“It would serve my interests to be able to talk with Jakob myself,” Rogan murmured half to himself. He noted Julien's alert watchfulness after he'd spoken.

“That is quite possible. His compound is near our destination on the Zambezi.”

They looked squarely at each other. Rogan realized he'd just been handed another reason for joining the BSA expedition. Rogan cared little about Julien's intentions. He had his own, and he wanted them fulfilled. He needed to talk to Jakob for himself. He owed it to himself and Evy.

“I agree with your conclusions about the Kimberly Black Diamond,” Rogan told Julien. “In the British raid at Ulundi, it's likely Cetshwayo escaped with little. And whatever he had, the British would have discovered when they captured him—unless it was buried in the heap of ruins at his kraal.”

Or a Zulu induna may have saved it and taken it away to who knew where? Lobengula? The person most likely to know its fate was Dumaka himself or his sister, Jendaya. Was it possible that Jube could be Dumaka?

Rogan made up his mind quickly. He would begin by meeting with the old Boer missionary, Jakob van Buren. And he would join Rhodes's expedition.

Julien, too, appeared to sense that his strong-willed nephew had come to the conclusion he and Peter had waited for. “Then we agree on some things, at least.”

“A letter to Evy from you would mean much to her at this time,” Rogan said. “There's no reason she must continue to live under the illusion that her mother ran off with the Kimberly Black.”

Julien showed no positive response.

“It's wise, Rogan, for you to forget about Evy Varley. You need not worry about Katie's daughter.”

Rogan didn't appreciate the cool dismissal of his request.

“If I don't trouble myself to be concerned, does this mean you will step up to the responsibility at last?”

At last
. Those two words, calmly but decisively spoken, seemed to sting Julien, for he looked at Rogan even more intently.

“You're quite concerned about her, aren't you?”

Rogan kept silent.

“No need to worry, my boy. I'll soon be informing Evy of her inheritance in the diamond mines through Katie van Buren. In the meantime, a comfortable allowance will be set up with lawyers in London. It will allow her to remain in Grimston Way or move to London, as she chooses. But could you be apprehensive there may be a blood relation between the Chantrys and van Burens? And could it be, Rogan, you have long made plans to lay hold of the van Buren inheritance through marriage to Evy?”

The accusation jolted him. It was the last thing he'd expected Julien to say. Attraction toward Evy, yes—more than that; but in order to gain her inheritance? Until recently he hadn't known she had one.

Sensing weakness, Julien approached like a lion ready to pounce on its prey.

“Even as a young lad you were too inquisitive about Evy's status. I still remember Lady Camilla arriving at Rookswood with indiscreet whispers about a secret child. At once you began to suspect Evy. It's the van Buren inheritance that has always piqued your attention, that and the Kimberly Black.”

Rogan reacted without thinking and grabbed Sir Julien by the front of his shirt, his fist ready to plow into him.

All of a sudden cool sanity rushed through his brain, clearing away rage.

Julien's cold, unblinking eye stared back with challenge.

Rogan's hand loosened from Julien's shirt.

Julien remained silent.

Rogan suddenly laughed, easing his own tension. “You're lying. It's the other way around, isn't it? It always has been. Even with Katie. Who knows what Carl van Buren truly entrusted to you until his child came of legal age? You wanted to manipulate Katie's marriage to keep authority
over the van Buren share of diamonds. That she rebelled and went her own willful way must have infuriated you.”

Instead of exploding with anger, Julien grew more cool, more precise, using words like daggers. “By the way, Lord Bancroft has written me recently about your scheme.”

Lord Bancroft? Patricia's father… Their names tossed in Rogan's face momentarily blinded him.

“I brought the letter from Lord Bancroft with me from Capetown.” Julien looked triumphant.

What could be in the letter that gave Julien cause to accuse him of wanting Evy's inheritance—and now, of all things, the Black Diamond! Until this moment the battle of wills with Julien had been all about Henry's map.

Julien brought the tips of his fingers together in a thoughtful pose. “Lord Bancroft fears you are in the process of betraying his daughter in exchange for Evy van Buren, the heiress.”

This was the first time Julien had spoken of Evy using the van Buren name, and now he had added the word
heiress
. This final comment proved to Rogan that his uncle's actions were manipulative. One moment Evy was the forgotten daughter of Katie, to be left in the dark at Grimston Way. The next she was a diamond heiress, and Rogan was plotting to lay hold of her wealth.

Any quick denial of his intentions toward Evy would only serve to bolster Julien's attack. He could see where Julien wanted to take him, and he would avoid going there.

“If His Lordship has concerns about Patricia, he can write to me himself,” Rogan clipped.

“Easily said, but you can understand his worries that you'll ignore the long-standing agreement made between you and his daughter.”

“There is no agreement,” Rogan stated coldly.

“Ah, but His Lordship feels quite differently.”

“We can dispense with how His Lordship feels. It is my life, my marriage, and I will jolly well do with it as I please.”

“And dispense with Lady Patricia's feelings as well? She is more than upset by your betrayal—”

“Betrayal, rubbish! Where is the letter? I want to see it for myself.”

“She's become ill over your tacit decision to leave her dangling while you make plans to gain hold of Evy's inheritance. Very brutish of you, Rogan, my boy.” Julien found the envelope, conveniently inside his pocket, and handed it to him with a disappointed parental frown.

Rogan snatched it from his hand, meeting Julien's single eye with a challenge of his own. He would not be bullied. If there was to be a betrayal, then he himself would not become the victim! He looked at the envelope and saw that it was indeed from Lord Bancroft and written to Sir Julien Bley.

“Lady Patricia is now staying at Rookswood with your aunt Elosia,” Julien said. “Naturally, the young woman fled her whispering friends in London society. You can well imagine the embarrassment she must be suffering because of you.”

Rogan was furious as he read the pompous tone of Lord Bancroft's ridiculous charge. The words were a worrisome tirade about a marriage to his daughter being “too long delayed.” Something must be done “soon in order to save Her Ladyship's tarnished reputation in society.” Already, Patricia was pale and wan and grieved for Rogan's return to assure her that his betrayal was not true. If Rogan would not come home to London to deal with his manly responsibilities, then Lord Bancroft would take this matter up with Rogan's father, Sir Lyle Chantry. Bancroft was disappointed over Rogan's heartless deception toward his daughter. He appealed to Sir Julien Bley, the patriarch of the extended family dynasty in South Africa, to speak sharply to his adventurous young nephew about his intransigence.

And leave Henry's map in Julien's charge while he went dashing back to London, no doubt. Totally absurd. He would not fall into Julien's cleverly laid trap.

Rogan tossed the letter onto the camping table in a gesture of irate independence.

“It won't work, Uncle. You won't use me as a chess piece to suit your purposes. You're already playing my brother for a fool with your cat-and-mouse game over marriage to Darinda. You also forced my sister into a marriage she didn't want. It ends there. I won't be maneuvered into a corner to marry any woman unless I decide she's the woman I want.”

Julien claimed another Turkish cigarette, taking his time lighting it. “I'm afraid it is not so simple as all that, Rogan. Not where Evy is concerned.”

“It will be as simple and straightforward as I choose it to be.”

Julien shook his head. “You speak in ignorance. I didn't want to tell you this, but now I see I must. You've left me no choice. Her father, you see, shuts the door to any possibility of your marrying Katie's daughter. You had better settle for Lady Patricia and make the most of it.”

Rogan looked at him, cautious again. He should have known the wily serpent had yet another threatening bite in his arsenal. Julien had never confronted him without being sure he would win in the end.

He assumed a sympathetic countenance, returning to his earlier more amiable yet condescending tone. “You see, my boy, I guessed your interest in Evy long ago. Learning she was Katie's daughter, with a diamond inheritance, only helped solidify your plans. I loathed telling you early on, as I somewhat admired your rugged tenacity.”

“Forget the sentimentality. Get to the point.”

“Henry was Evy's father.”

Henry!

“Ah…I see this has been a shock. A devious blow. And with good reason. This is death to your plan to gain the van Buren inheritance.”

Henry's daughter
, Rogan thought again.

“We both know that Henry and Katie stole the Black Diamond together, and we know that Dumaka somehow snatched it from Henry in the stables. But what you didn't know was Henry and Katie's plan of escaping to raise Evy in America. Katie's death at Rorke's Drift changed everything for Henry. He was devastated. Since Dr. Clyde and Junia
Varley were relatives of Vicar Edmund Havering, Henry thought it best to bring his baby daughter back to England and make arrangements with the vicar and his wife, Grace, to raise Evy.”

Rogan felt himself sinking under a flood of desolation. It was too much, and soon he would drown.

Julien was right as far as he knew. Rogan had wondered if there might not be more to Evy's birth than had been reported. When he was a geology student in London, he discovered that Evy had been at Rorke's Drift for only a month, which had raised doubts about Clyde and Junia Varley being her blood parents. He had learned through the records of the mission board that the missionaries were childless at the time. Later it was reported by Dr. Clyde himself that they were in the process of adopting a baby from Capetown.

He'd always been curious, yes. And suspicious. Especially when Camilla came to Rookswood. There'd been moments when he'd been forced to confront the possibility that Henry could be Evy's biological father. But he had swept these suspicions away because he didn't want to deal with them. That is, until now. Now Julien had uncovered the past with a victorious flair that left Rogan vanquished.

Rogan hardly noticed Sir Julien's placating smile. He only knew that he would not cooperate with Julien, regardless of becoming part of the Company expedition. He would do everything within his power to work against him.

“You have always been a practical young man, Rogan. I confess, if I'd not made Anthony my son and heir long ago, I'd be tempted to choose you, my boy.”

Rogan felt the twitch in his cheek that bespoke boiling anger.

“I like a man with a strong will… I could almost wish you were interested in my Darinda rather than Patricia. That is a thought, you know. You cannot have Evy and her inheritance, but think of Darinda. She does come with her own share of diamonds from De Beers.”

Rogan shot him a quick, calculating look. No thought for Parnell, of course. Julien would toss him aside in a moment if it enhanced his
purposes. And what had suddenly annulled his concern over the betrayal of Lord Bancroft's abandoned daughter? Power and money. They were Julien's life's blood; like Rhodes and many others in the Company, Julien worshiped at the temple of diamonds and gold.

Julien was smoking, pacing. “One thing is certain, however. Katie's daughter is out of the picture. Lamentably, as much as this hurts you, you must forget her and build a new life here in South Africa. I will do everything in my power to see you prosper and grow stronger. Stronger in harmony with the determined purpose to turn Matabeleland and Mashonaland into Rhodesia.”

Rogan did not trust himself to speak. At that moment he was so furious he could have crushed Julien. He lapsed instead into a quagmire of numbness and silence in order to escape his own anger. Later, yes, later he would make his own plans when he could think clearly, when his fevered brain cooled in the starlight.