‘Better not let your friend Katja van Rensburg hear you saying that about her daughters.’ Jan was laughing. His wife was beautiful when she was annoyed. Her olive skin became rosy, and the spirit of her Italian blood flashed in her eyes as she gestured to emphasise her point. ‘It’s a boarding school, Lottie. Surely you don’t want Hannah to live there, with her home only ten miles down the road?’

‘No, of course I don’t. But they take day girls as well. There are about twenty from the town who—’

‘They’re the daughters of Britishers – district commissioners and doctors, and all those other business people and English farmers. I know you have friends among the wives, yes. But our family is different.’ Jan sucked on his pipe. ‘She’ll find it hard to fit in at the convent. Everyone needs to belong somewhere. Especially at that age. Hannah’s not going to spend the rest of her life with Britishers, or with your family in Johannesburg. She’s an Afrikaner and I want her to be proud of that.’

‘She should be comfortable on either side of her heritage, Janni, and be free to take advantage of that in later life, wherever she ends up.’ Lottie leaned over his chair and kissed his forehead. ‘I want her to go to the convent, I really do. I want you to put her name down right now, and come with me for an interview with the Mother Superior. That’s it, as far as I’m concerned.’

‘Where’s the money going to come from?’ Jan said. ‘It’s very expensive, the convent. We’d have to use some of what we have put away. And if there’s a drought, or rinderpest among the cattle, or we need a new tractor, what happens then?’

‘Our daughter is more important than a new tractor,’ Lottie said. ‘We can’t deprive her of the best schooling because we’re afraid of something that might never happen on the farm.’

Jan decided to retreat and save time. ‘You can make the arrangements yourself. I’m not going to be interviewed by any Mother Superior. And that’s it from my side.’

Two years later, Hannah felt her father might have been right. She didn’t belong in the convent and she still had no close friends. But she excelled in sport, and on the afternoon of the inter-school hockey championships it was Hannah’s turn to shine as she scored four of the five goals for her team, making them top of the league. She was the star of the day. At the end of the match she was flushed from exertion and triumph. When Sarah Mackay came over to congratulate her she felt a sudden upsurge of courage, and she blurted out the lines she had practised so many times in her head.