Chapter 12 Section 5

Simeon Lee picked up the envelope and pulled out a piece of paper from it.He looks surprised.His eyebrows went up, but he smiled again. "This is great!" he said. Then he said to the butler: "Take Mr. Farr here, Tracylian." "Yes, sir." "I was just thinking about old Ebenezer Farr, my partner in the Kimberley, and here's his son," Simmith said. Tracylian reappears.He called, "Mr. Farr." Stephen Farr came in with a nervous look on his face, which he concealed with a little too much affectation.He said—and at this very moment his South African accent was much more pronounced than usual: "Mr. Lee?"

"Nice to meet you, are you Abby's son?" Stephen Farr grinned rather shyly. "This is the first time I have come to my hometown. My father has always told me that if I come here, I will come to visit you." "Very well," the old man looked to the side. "This is my granddaughter, Pilar Estelvados." "Hello," Pilar said. Stephen Farr thought admiringly: "This calm little devil, she was taken aback when she saw me, but she just passed by so that she could barely see it." He said solemnly: "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Estelavados."

"Thank you," Pilar said. Simeon Lee said: "Sit down and tell me about yourself. Will you be in England for a long time?" "Oh, now that I'm here, why should I leave in such a hurry?" He tilted his head back and laughed. Simeon Lee said, "Very well. You must stay here with us for a while." "Oh, look at this, sir. I can't just come in so rashly, and it's two days before Christmas." "You must spend Christmas with us—unless you have other plans?" "Ah, no, I don't, but I don't want to..." Simeon said: "That's the decision." He turned his head, "Pilar?"

"Here I am, Grandpa." "Go tell Lydia we have another guest and tell her to come here." Pilar left the room, and Stephen's eyes followed her.Simeon noticed this fact and was intrigued. He said, "Did you come here directly from South Africa?" "Exactly." They started talking about that country. A few minutes later, Lydia came in. Simeon said: "This is Stephen Farr, the son of my old friend and partner Ebenezer Farr. He is going to spend Christmas with us if you can find him a room." Lydia smiled. "Of course." She sized up the stranger's features, his bronzed skin, blue eyes, and head that was always thrown back. "This is my daughter-in-law," Simeon said.

Stephen said: "I feel very embarrassed - to interrupt such a family gathering." "You are part of the family too, my boy," said Simeon, "and you should think so." "It is very kind of you, sir." Pilar came in again, she sat quietly in front of the fire, picked up the piece of cardboard, which she used as a fan, and slowly turned her wrist from side to side.She lowered her eyes, looking dignified and demure.