Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni took a forkful of his mutton stew. “Passing by? How is it that a famous person like that is just passing by the Tlokweng Road? How many famous people do you see on the Tlokweng Road, Mma Ramotswe? I have never seen one—not one. It is not a place where famous people like to go.”

“Those were my thoughts too,” said Mma Ramotswe. “So I asked him, and he told me.”

She waited while Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni dealt with his mutton stew. Then she resumed. “He said that he was in Botswana because he was invited here to visit some lady.”

“Some Motswana lady?”

She shook her head. “No, an American lady who has lived here for a few years. This lady is working here on a scheme that the American government has to build libraries in schools. They are building a library in Serowe, I think, and another one at Selebi-Phikwe. There will be many libraries all over the place, and it will be very nice for the children. That is what she is doing.”

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni nodded. “It sounds like good work. And so Mr. Andersen knows this lady, and she asked him to come to see her. Has he not got a wife back wherever he comes from? Is there no wife to say, ‘You must not go off and visit library ladies’?”

Mma Ramotswe raised a finger in the air. “No, Rra, that is the point. There was a wife—there was a Mrs. Andersen, but she is late now.”

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni lowered his head, as was polite to do, even if one did not know the late person. “I am very sorry to hear that.”

“Yes, it is very sad. So he has no wife now …”

“And he is hoping that the library lady …”

“No, he is not hoping that. But I think the library lady is hoping that she will be the new Mrs. Andersen.”

“You mean she’s keener than he is?”

“That is exactly what I mean. He did not use those precise words, of course, but that is the impression I formed. I think that she is keen to marry him, but he has different ideas. I think he wants her just as a friend.”

“But what is the problem?” asked Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. “Do they not like one another? Is that not the most important thing?”

“I think they do like one another. In fact, he said to me, ‘I am very fond of this lady, but I do not love her.’ That is what he said, Rra.”

He shrugged. “There are many people who marry one another without being in love. There are many good marriages like that. I could make you a long list, Mma.”