Chapter 3

It was Easter break, Ross had not heard from Joanne for a whole week. She had not visited him as usual and there had been no letter. He had been so accustomed to her loving routines that this silence jolted him badly. He wondered whether Ross had dropped him, or had her parents found out anything and put their foot down? Or was Joanne waiting for him to take the initiative and step into the lion's den of his own free will?

Whatever it was, he wanted to take her to the College's Easter dance the next day. He did not know how to get in touch with her. There was no telephone anywhere around his uncle's house, so he could not possibly ring her.

Undecided, he waited until around five in the evening and then made up his mind to go and see her. She worked in her father's firm and he knew she would be home by six.

He set out for Toronto on his uncle's Power bike, in a do or die mood. He might be doing the wrong thing but anything was better than such uncertainty. All too soon he arrived at Joanne's house and parked the bike outside the gate.

Joanne's place was a mansion, pillared and painted white. Ross mentally doffed his hat for Joanne's father. It stood in a white and  beautiful compound and was walled around. On the white gates hung a sign which read "Beware of dogs." That was typical of houses of this kind. At the gate was a security post in which sat a security guard in white and black uniform.

'Yes sir?' Said the man, polite but firm.

'I'm here to see Joanne. Miss Kings' Ross told him cheerfully and was given the permission to come in.

Ross pushed the gate back and stepped inside the compound. It was a very big house and the driveway, despite the twin rows of palm trees and flowers planted along it, was a clean as if it had been newly swept. Perhaps there was another security guard Ross thought, who kept untidy leaves and stray petals, just as the man at the gate kept out unwanted people. He strode on. He had not anticipated either such size or grandeur and as he walked up the terraced driveway to the house, he mentally doffed his hat a second time for Joanne's father, for building such an elegant house.

The first thing he saw as he went in was a magnificent fountain, from which gushed pure spring water. On the walls stood beautiful works of sculpture which must have cost the earth. Here were two lion cubs, one on either side of a lioness, there was a white painted fawn with golden spots in a corner, surrounded by flowers was a shrine, the Madonna with her baby in her arms. He wanted to stop and stare but he felt the guard was watching from the gate, possibly regretting the decisions to allow him enter. Who could tell how many people were watching from the house? He took no notice of the dogs barking from somewhere. He could not see them anyway and went on to press the bell.

A maid answered it promptly. He was explaining to her what he wanted when a stout bespectacled woman of about fifty came into the spacious hall. She bore no resemblance to Joanne, so Ross did not know she was Joanne's mother. She was dressed in an expensive gown and her hair was plaited in puffs.

'Yes?' She said, unsmiling and sizing him up with her eagle eyes. A student, T-shirt and, good heavens with a crashed helment in his hand. He didn't even have a car!

Mrs Helen Kingston looked hard at Ross and asked him to sit down. She sent the maid to call Joanne and continued on her own way, obviously dismissing him as someone of no important.

Ross looked round the hall which seemed to be used to receive visitors who were not friends of the family. 'What in the  world was he doing with a daughter of such moneyed and sophisticated people?' He asked himself. The room in which he sat was expensively decorated and furnished. The stool were made of something very much like Ivory, he couldn't be sure, and the chairs were so soft and beautiful, you had a feeling you could sink in them. The table in the middle of the room was made of glass and the crystal bowl of flower looking like something from a magazine. There was an aquarium at the far end with exotic fish in it. He  longed to go and look at the little gold fish that danced round, swimming peacefully in the water. Instead he sat stiffly on the velvet chair and stared at the expensive paintings on the walls. Yes, this is class, Ross told himself with a  sigh. No wonder Joanne had never invited him to her house. What was he doing here now? The whole thing was a big mistake. He had nothing and everything spelt money in this room. He was still looking round when Joanne showed her face over the banisters. As soon as she saw it was Ross, she ran down the carpeted stairs.

'Ross!' She shouted quickly, excitedly, forgetting all her fears about this moment. The Joy of seeing him so unexpectedly just wiped away every other thought.

Ross's answering smile lit up his thoughtful face. He held out his hands to her but Joanne impulsively flung herself into his arms. Her mother returned and stared full of unspoken disapproval. Her father, coming in from his study, coughed loudly to announce his presence, but there was a twinkle in his eyes.

"I'm sorry I didn't come to see you on Saturday, I've been ill. I haven't gone anywhere for a whole week now. Let me introduce you to my parents." Joanne said, all in one breath, 'This is Ross Chester and these are my parents, Ross.'

He shook hands knowing he was  getting a close scrutiny.

"How did you do!" Mrs Kings said with the coldest from of formality.

"Can this be the young man who get so many letters?" Mr Kings teased. 'We are pleased to meet you, my boy.' He was just a little bit shorter than his wife and was casually dressed in grey flannel trousers and a white shirt. He looked about fifty-five and had a pleasant personality. He was not pot-bellied like most Nigerian rich men, but he was growing bald. He seemed genuinely pleased to meet Ross, and started filling his pipe as he greeted him. He could see that his wife was not pleased with Joanne's choice of a boyfriend. He recognized that chilly smile and the tone of her choice for How do you do.'

Joanne would normally have recognised it too but this evening she seemed too excited to care.

"Let me show you around, Ross," she was saying with all her attention on the young man.

She was very happy to see him and took him on a tour of her home with the chatter and delight of a child showing another her new toys. On the ground floor, apart from the huge entrance hall, there were two sitting rooms which could be made into one room for large parties. There was a dinning room that looked big enough for a conference dinner. All the furniture and fittings were beautiful and in exquisite taste and very very expensive. Amazed at such luxury, Ross was led tkbthe study, a whole suite of guest rooms, each with it's own bathroom, the kitchens, shining spotless, fully equipped with everything money could buy.

Then they went upstairs. One whole wing of the house was her parent's room: bedroom, two bathrooms and another private sitting room. Richard's head was reeling. They turned to the other wing of the house. More rooms still! There was Joanne's own room, and another large bedroom with a double duvan bed. It was clearly decorated for married couple. Another bathroom! Then a room with a charming frieze of animals and toys. Then, a sitting room!

"Goodness, Joanne," said Ross. It's breath taking. What do you do with so much space? Don't you ever get lost?