Unexpectedly he felt a new confidence. He had done nothing wrong. He had not stolen anything, or killed anybody, or committed adultery. He had just offered to change the lives of two poor children who had had nothing and who would now be loved and looked after. If Mma Ramotswe did not like that, well there was nothing he could do about it now. He had been impetuous, but his impetuosity had been in a good cause.

Mma Ramotswe suddenly laughed. “Well, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni,” she said. “Nobody could say of you that you are not a kind man. You are, I think, the kindest man in Botswana. What other man would do that? I do not know of one, not one single one. Nobody else would do that. Nobody.”

He stared at her. “You are not cross?”

“I was,” she said. “But only for a little while. One minute maybe. But then I thought: Do I want to marry the kindest man in the country? I do. Can I be a mother for them? I can. That is what I thought, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni.”

He looked at her incredulously. “You are a very kind woman yourself, Mma. You have been very kind to me.”

“We must not stand here and talk about kindness,” she said. “There are those two children there. Let’s take them back to Zebra Drive and show them where they are going to live. Then this afternoon I can come and collect them from your house and bring them to mine. Mine is more …”

She stopped herself, but he did not mind.

“I know that Zebra Drive is more comfortable,” he said. “And it would be better for them to be looked after by you.”

They walked back to the children, together, companionably.

“I’m going to marry this lady,” announced Mr J.L.B. Matekoni. “She will be your mother soon.”

The boy looked startled, but the girl lowered her eyes respectfully.

“Thank you, Mma,” she said. “We shall try to be good children for you.”

“That is good,” said Mma Ramotswe. “We shall be a very happy family. I can tell it already.”

Mma Ramotswe went off to fetch her tiny white van, taking the boy with her. Mr J.L.B. Matekoni pushed the girl’s wheelchair back to the old truck, and they drove over to Zebra Drive, where Mma Ramotswe and Puso were already waiting for them by the time they arrived. The boy was excited, rushing out to greet his sister.

“This is a very good house,” he cried out. “Look, there are trees, and melons. I am having a room at the back.”