Mad Dogs and Englishmen (The Brigandshaw Chronicles Book 3)
Page 50
“But you must come up to London,” he said three days before the book was due out.
“There will be many more launch parties, darling. Just for the moment our son needs my attention. Mother and I will be quite all right. Enjoy yourself. You deserve a break. I’ll raise a glass to your success on the day. Where are you going to stay?”
“The publisher has put me up at the Savoy.”
“They must think they are going to make a lot of money.”
Justine was smug at the thought of the two thousand-pound advance her husband had received from Longmans, Green and Company. The smugness was as much for her father as for her husband.
While Philip was being praised by his peers in London, Justine gave birth to their daughter who bawled loudly, the sound carrying far out into the small bay. Frank the gardener heard the cry and smiled. Another generation. Continuity for his family. Life in the country would go on without a pause. The house was already full of flowers. He went to pick some more just in case.
“A girl, Frank,” said the family doctor before getting into the car with a small Gladstone bag.
“Everything all right, Doctor?”
“Everything is fine.”
In a mad rush the next morning to reach Paddington station to catch a train back to Devonshire, Philip Neville just had time to post his parcel to Jim Bowman. The telegram at the hotel after the launch party had told him he was the father of a daughter. The thought overwhelmed him. More than the launch of his book. Or just as much he told himself chuckling as he ran for the post office. Longmans had told him at the party about the Americans. In three months’ time he was going to America for a book tour. Justine was going with him. Felicity would look after the baby. This time he was going to insist.
By the time the parcel reached Salisbury in Rhodesia it was agreed all four of them would tour America. Felicity did not believe a hired nurse would be good enough for her granddaughter. They were still arguing over the name which had changed five times. They were all too happy to worry about the child’s confusion at being called so many names. Not that the child seemed to care.
Jim Bowman took the parcel straight to the old shack that had first belonged to Sir Robert.
“You’d better read the dedication first.”
Colonel Voss was staring at the book in his hands. The glossy cover to Soldier of the Queen was very grand. He opened the book and read the first page.
‘This book is dedicated to my father-in-law, Colonel Lawrence Voss, also a soldier of the Queen who was killed fighting bravely in South Africa. I salute him.’
“That’s very nice,” said Colonel Voss. “You’d better pet that dog again. He is slavering all over the floor.”
“You’re a grandfather.”
“That’s also very nice.”
“So is this.”
Jim handed Colonel Voss the draft for one thousand pounds drawn on the Standard Bank in First Street, Salisbury, Rhodesia.
“My word. That’s a lot of money. Luckily I still have that suit you insisted on buying me. I have a fancy for a slap-up meal in Meikles. On me, of course.”
When they reached the entrance to the hotel, the Zulu doorman greeted them with his usual smile which turned to a beam. In his hand Colonel Voss had placed a pound note. They had first called at the bank across the road to draw twenty pounds in cash.
“Never been so rich in my life. Think I’ll move in to the hotel. You think they’ll let King Richard stay with me?”
“He can come to Elephant Walk with Othello and Hamlet.”
“Wonderful, dear boy.”
“In the letter… You will have half of all future royalties.”
“There’s more?”
“Much more.”
“God bless them all… Did I tell you the time I was in China? Before the Boxer Rebellion of course…”
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The Brigandshaw Chronicles will return with Book 4, To the Manor Born.
Principal Characters
The Brigandshaws
Emily — Harry’s mother
Harry — Central character of Elephant Walk and Mad Dogs and Englishmen, as well as son of Sebastian and Emily
George — Harry’s younger brother (deceased)
Lucinda — Harry’s wife (deceased)
Mathilda — Harry’s paternal grandmother
Nathanial and James — Harry’s uncles
Sebastian — Central character of Echoes from the Past (deceased)
Sir Henry Manderville — Emily’s father and Harry’s grandfather
The St Clairs
Barnaby — The youngest brother of the St Clair children and Tina Pringle’s love interest
Ethelbert, Seventeenth Baron St Clair — Robert, Merlin and Barnaby’s father
Lady St Clair (Bess) — Robert, Merlin and Barnaby’s mother
Merlin — Brother to Barnaby and Robert, a confirmed bachelor
Robert — Harry’s university friend and author of the Keeper of the Legend
The Pringles
Albert — Tina’s brother who is co-owner of Serendipity Mining and Explosives Company, Johannesburg
Julia — Albert and Sallie’s daughter
Sallie — Co-owner of Serendipity Mining and Explosives Company and wife to Albert
Tina — Albert’s sister and Barnaby St Clair’s girlfriend
The Oosthuizens
Alison — Barend’s reclusive mother
Barend — Lifelong friend of Harry Brigandshaw, a troubled man fighting his demons
Katinka — Barend’s sister who lives in the Cape
Madge — Harry’s long-suffering sister, and wife to Barend
Paula, Tinus and Doris — Madge and Barend’s children
The Voss Family
Colonel Larry Voss — Eccentric old man always on the lookout for a grubstake in Rhodesia
Felicity — Colonel Voss’s long-lost love
Justine — Colonel Voss and Felicity’s daughter
Walter — Colonel Voss’s son (deceased)
Other Principal Characters
Brett Kentrich — Harry’s girlfriend, an actress
C E Porter — A devious stockbroker in the City of London
Dolly Merryl — Len and Jenny Merryl’s mother
Esther — Merlin’s ex-mistress from the Running Horses, Mickelham
Jenny Merryl — Jim Bowman’s neighbour who lived next door but three in northern England
Jim Bowman — A new arrival from England in Rhodesia
Len Merryl — Jenny Merryl’s brother
Max — C E Porter’s business partner
Mervyn (Fishy) Braithwaite — CO of 33 Squadron as well as Sara Wentworth and Lucinda Brigandshaw’s murderer
Mildred — Cousin to Jenny and Len Merryl
Percy Grainger — A senior manager at Colonial Shipping
Pierre Le Jeune — Son of an impoverished Belgian aristocrat
Simon Haller — Reporter for the Rhodesia Herald
Smithers — Merlin St Clair’s manservant
Solly Goldman — Photographer for the Rhodesia Herald
Tembo — Harry’s boyhood friend and servant on Elephant Walk
The Zulu — Doorman at the Meikles Hotel
Glossary
Baas — A supervisor or employer, especially a white man in charge of coloured or black people
Grubstake — Money or other means supplied during a time of need or when starting a business enterprise
Merchant Prince —A person who has acquired sufficient wealth from trading to wield political influence
Piccaninny —A small black child; very small
Pap — Maize meal – a staple African diet
Rondavel — A westernised version of the African-style hut
Sadza — An African word for maize meal
Spruit — A small watercourse, typically dry except during the rainy season
Veld — Afrikaans word for open, uncultivated country or grassland in southern Africa
Vundu — large African freshwater fish; type of catfish
Historical Notes
Bechuanaland — Officially known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate and ruled directly from Britain until its independence in 1966 whereupon its name was changed to Botswana.
Gu Bulawayo — Known as ‘The Place of the Killings’ and originally founded as Lobengula’s capital in 1870. The city was to become known as Bulawayo.
Meikles Hotel — The Meikles Hotel is a 5 star hotel in Harare, Zimbabwe. It was built by Thomas Meikles and officially opened in 1915.
Rhodesia — No actual historical evidence can be attributed for Rhodesia having been named after the newspaper, the Rhodesia Herald.
About Peter Rimmer
Peter Rimmer was born in London, England, and grew up in the south of the city where he went to school. After the Second World War, and aged eighteen, he joined the Royal Air Force, reaching the rank of pilot officer before the age of nineteen. At the end of his national service he sailed for Africa to grow tobacco in what was then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.
The years went by and Peter found himself in Johannesburg, where he established an insurance brokering company. Over two percent of the companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange were clients of Rimmer Associates. He opened branches in the United States of America, Australia and Hong Kong and travelled extensively between them.
He now lives a reclusive life in his beloved Africa, writing his books.
Peter began writing Mad Dogs and Englishmen on the 8th August 2002 and finished it on the 29th June 2003.
For more information:
@ htcrimmer
PeterRimmerAuthor
www.peterrimmer.com
books@peterrimmer.com
Also by Peter Rimmer
“Cry of the Fish Eagle”
“Vultures in the Wind”
“Bend with the Wind”
The Brigandshaw Chronicles:
“Echoes from the Past” (Book 1)
“Elephant Walk” (Book 2)
“Mad Dogs and Englishmen” (Book 3)
Join Peter’s Band of Readers
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Acknowledgments
With grateful thanks to our VIP First Readers for reading Mad Dogs and Englishmen prior to it’s official launch date. They have been fabulous in picking up errors and typos helping us to ensure that your own reading experience of Mad Dogs and Englishmen has been the best possible. Their time and commitment is particularly appreciated.
Alan McConnochie (South Africa)
Artur Vock (South Africa)
Felicity Barker (South Africa)
Marcelle Archer (South Africa)
Vikki Lawson (New Zealand)
Thank you.
Kamba Publishing
MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN
Copyright © Peter Rimmer 2017
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. Names, characters, long-standing establishments, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
First published in Great Britain in January 2017 by
KAMBA PUBLISHING, United Kingdom
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Book Cover Design
Cover Design by Hakim Julizar
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Kamba Publishing at books@peterrimmer.com.