"I'm marrying Mma Ramotswe," he began. "She is..."

"She's the detective lady, isn't she?" said Mma Potokwane. "I have heard all about her. That will make life very exciting for you. You will be lurking about all the time. Spying on people."

Mr J.L.B. Matekoni drew in his breath. "I shall be doing no such thing," he said. "I am not going to be a detective. That is Mma Ramotswe's business."

Mma Potokwane seemed disappointed. But then, she brightened up. "You will be buying her a diamond ring, I suppose," she said. "An engaged lady these days must wear a diamond ring to show that she is engaged."

Mr J.L.B. Matekoni stared at her. "Is it necessary?" he asked.

"It is very necessary," said Mma Potokwane. "If you read any of the magazines, you will see that there are advertisements for diamond rings. They say that they are for engagements."

Mr J.L.B. Matekoni was silent. Then: "Diamonds are rather expensive, aren't they?"

"Very expensive," said one of the housemothers. "One thousand pula for a tiny, tiny diamond."

"More than that," said Mr Potokwane. "Some diamonds cost two hundred thousand pula. Just one diamond."

Mr J.L.B. Matekoni looked despondent. He was not a mean man, and was as generous with presents as he was with his time, but he was against any waste of money and it seemed to him that to spend that much on a diamond, even for a special occasion, was entirely wasteful.

"I shall speak to Mma Ramotswe about it," he said firmly, to bring the awkward topic to a close. "Perhaps she does not believe in diamonds."

"No," said Mma Potokwane. "She will believe in diamonds. All ladies believe in diamonds. That is one thing on which all ladies agree."

MR J.L.B. Matekoni crouched down and looked at the pump. After he had finished tea with Mma Potokwane, he had fol-lowed the path that led to the pump-house. It was one of those peculiar paths that seemed to wander, but which eventually reached its destination.